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55m ago

Northern Lights Starts Commercial CO2 Storage With First Injection in North Sea

State financing under Norway's Longship program underpins a fully booked first phase with expansion already underway.

Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies completed Europe’s first permanent CO2 injection.
Source: Northern Lights JV
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Overview

  • The Equinor–Shell–TotalEnergies joint venture confirmed the inaugural injection, declaring its third‑party CO2 transport and storage service operational.
  • CO2 from Heidelberg Materials’ Brevik cement plant was shipped to Øygarden and injected via a subsea pipeline into the Aurora reservoir about 2,600 meters below the seabed.
  • Phase 1 provides 1.5 million tonnes per year of storage and is fully booked, with Norwegian volumes continuing in 2025 and additional shipments from Denmark and the Netherlands slated for 2026.
  • In March the partners approved Phase 2 to raise capacity to at least 5 million tonnes per year, supported by €131 million in EU CEF funding and new tanks, wells, a jetty, and additional CO2 carriers.
  • About 80% of Phase 1 costs were covered by the Norwegian government, Northern Lights has signed a small number of customer contracts across Europe, and CCS remains costly and contested even as the IPCC and IEA cite its role for hard‑to‑abate industries.