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Shell's Northern Lights CCS Project Begins CO2 Storage in Norway

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Key Takeaways

  • Shell and partners launched Northern Lights, the first third-party CO2 storage project in Norway.
  • Phase 1 offers 1.5M tons capacity yearly, with expansion to 5M tons already approved.
  • CO2 is shipped from Heidelberg's plant, piped offshore, and stored 2,600 meters below the seabed.

Shell plc (SHEL - Free Report) , along with its partners,TotalEnergies SE (TTE - Free Report) and Equinor ASA (EQNR - Free Report) , recently announced the achievement of a major milestone with the Northern Lights CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) project in Norway. The first volumes of CO2 have been injected and securely stored 2,600 meters below the seabed, marking the launch of the world’s first third-party CO2 transport and storage facility. This development strengthens Europe’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by providing a scalable model for carbon capture and storage.

Challenging Process of Shipping the CO2

The journey of CO2 begins at Heidelberg Materials AG’s (HDLMY - Free Report) cement plant in Brevik, Norway. From there, liquefied CO2 is shipped to the Øygarden facility, transferred into a 100-kilometer pipeline, and injected into the Aurora reservoir beneath the North Sea. The two specialized vessels to transport CO2 to Øygarden have been designed by Shell engineers and are among the largest liquefied carbon carriers globally. The 130-meter-long Northern Pathfinder and Northern Pioneer loads captured CO2 at Heidelberg’s cement factory to be transported to the Northern Lights terminal.

Completion of Phase 1, Expansion in Progress

Phase 1 of the Northern Lights project provides a storage capacity of 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year — already fully booked. With demand growing, the partners have made the final investment decision for phase 2 of the development, which will expand capacity to at least 5 million tons annually. The decision followed an agreement with Stockholm Exergi to transport and store up to 900,000 tons of CO2 each year. The expansion also includes new storage tanks, a jetty and additional injection wells, supported by the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy grant.

Building Europe’s CCS Future

The Northern Lights project represents more than just a technical achievement - it is proof of how governments, industries and customers can collaborate to build new value chains. With over 25 years of CO2 storage expertise on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, this project is designed to accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries. As Phase 2 takes shape, Northern Lights is set to become a cornerstone of Europe’s climate solutions.

Northern Lights JV

Northern Lights joint venture (JV) is an incorporated general partnership with shared liability, jointly owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell. The joint venture project enables the mitigation of industrial emissions that cannot be avoided and accelerates the decarbonization of European industry.

Shell, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), is advancing CCS initiatives to decarbonize both its own operations and those of its customers. Within this framework, projects such as Northern Lights are central to the company’s strategy of generating more value with lower emissions.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

TotalEnergies prioritizes avoiding emissions first, then reducing them through a systematic, asset-by-asset approach using the best available technologies. For residual emissions, both its own and those of customers, it is advancing industrial carbon storage projects. Leveraging expertise in large-scale project management, gas processing and geosciences, the company is driving significant decarbonization across European industries.

Equinor, as the technical service provider, is overseeing operations and infrastructure on behalf of the Northern Lights joint venture. Equinor, which is a leading global CCS developer, aims to build 30-50 million tons of annual CO2 transport and storage capacity by 2035. To reach this goal, it is advancing multiple projects across Europe and the United States, relying on supportive policies and strong collaboration between governments, industry, customers and regulators.

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