TotalEnergies, Equinor and Shell have announced the final investment decision 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 tonnes of CO2 per year from 2028.

The Northern Lights project offers CO2 transport and storage as a service. Liquefied CO2 from capture sites is shipped to onshore receiving terminals in western Norway, before transported by pipeline for permanent storage in a reservoir 2,600 meters under the seabed.

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 off the coast of Øygarden, western Norway.

The second phase announced today represents an investment of $700m 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.

“I am delighted of the launch of Northern Lights phase 2, which represents a significant step forward for the CCS industry. 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”, said Nicolas Terraz, president exploration and production of TotalEnergies.

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