Norway Opens Up North Sea to CCS Efforts

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Norway announced two areas in the North Sea are open for applications related to CO2 injection and storage, building on a legacy of progress.

"We have developed a system that provides good access to promising areas," Energy Minister Terje Aasland said. "Today's announcement for applications is another step on the road towards making Norway a central arena for CO2 storage as an important climate measure for Europe."

Norway is unique in that much of its own power comes from renewable resources, though its finances depend on oil and gas. Entities embedded in the oil and gas industry see carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon capture storage and utilization (CCUS) as ways to offset the emissions associated with fossil fuels.

Critics, however, argue that sequestration efforts do little to end the use of fossil fuels in favor of renewable resources.

Norway, it seems, is having it both ways. Aasland said that succeeding with large-scale sequestration efforts is important not only for the global effort to combat climate change, but to the Norwegian government's efforts as well.

"That is why we are facilitating commercial CO2 storage on our continental shelf," he said. "If we succeed, such activity will have the potential to reduce emissions in Europe, while creating new and valuable jobs in Norway."

Offshore CCS technology separates CO2 from other gases and compresses it for maritime transit, road transit or pipelines. In most cases offshore, the carbon is then sequestered in depleted oil and gas reservoirs.

Norway's experience with the technology dates back at least to the early part of the century. Norwegian energy company Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) (Stavanger, Norway) is working alongside Anglo-Dutch major Shell plc (NYSE:SHEL) (London, England) and French company TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) (Courbevoie, France) to advance the Northern Lights project, part of the broader Longship program for carbon sequestration in Norway. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for a list of project reports tied to the Northern Lights Project.

Longship was described by the Norwegian government as "the greatest climate project" it has ever pursued, and even the International Energy Agency (IEA) recognized that sequestration is a priority area for Norway.

The $2.6 billion Longship project envisions an initial storage capacity of 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 annually over a 25-year time span. That phase could begin as early as 2025. A second phase could increase that capacity to 5 million tons.

The IEA considers Norway to be a leader in CCS deployment, which may play an integral role in global climate goals. Nevertheless, Norway may have its work cut out for it in advancing further in the energy transition.

"Norway has considerable work ahead, especially since its electricity generation is already zero emissions and the country already has substantial electrification of the buildings sector and almost half of industry, thereby also achieving low emissions in these sectors," the IEA stated.

What the IEA said were "easy wins" in its emissions strategy were already achieved and more work is needed, particularly in transportation.

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