TotalEnergies, partners launch $700 million expansion of Northern Lights CCS Project
TotalEnergies and its partners, Equinor and Shell, announce the Final Investment Decision (FID) of the second phase of the Northern Lights development, which will increase the project transport and storage capacity from 1.5 million to more than 5 million tons of CO2 per year from 2028.
The first phase of Northern Lights is completed and ready to receive CO2 from industrial emitters. Operations are expected to start this summer, with the first CO2 transportation by ship from Heidelberg Materials’ cement factory in Brevik, Norway and its injection and permanent storage into a reservoir 2,600 meters below the seabed, off the coast of Øygarden, western Norway.
The second phase announced today represents an investment of NOK 7.5 billion (~$700 million) and leverages existing onshore and offshore infrastructures. This expansion includes new onshore storage tanks, pumps, a jetty, injection wells and transport vessels - which are all expected to be completed for a start-up by the second half of 2028.
This FID of this second phase follows the signing of a 15-year commercial agreement between Northern Lights and the Swedish district energy provider, Stockholm Exergi, for the cross-border transport and storage of 900,000 tons of biogenic CO2 emissions annually, starting in 2028. Stockholm Exergi is the 5th company to commit with Northern Lights for transport and storage of its CO2 emissions, after Heidelberg Materials and Celsio in Norway, Yara in the Netherlands and Ørsted in Denmark. In addition, Northern Lights is in advanced discussions with several large European industrial customers to market the remaining storage capacity.
“I am delighted of the launch of Northern Lights phase 2, which represents a significant step forward for the CCS industry," said Nicolas Terraz, President Exploration & Production of TotalEnergies. "Northern Lights can thus provide a concrete solution for the hard-to-abate industrial emitters in Europe, so that they can reduce their CO2 emissions and thereby secure their businesses’ sustainability.”
“The decision to expand our CO2 transport and storage services represents the next step in building a commercially viable CCS market in Europe," added Tim Heijn, Managing director of Northern Lights JV. "It confirms Northern Lights’ commitment to offer an effective solution for companies to reduce emissions. The investment decision is an important milestone for our company, our customers and industry partners, governments and regulators. We have jointly been working hard to establish the CCS chain and make a real difference enabling Europe to achieve climate targets."
