Norway is taking a historic step in the fight against climate change as the world’s first full-scale value chain for carbon capture and storage (CCS) is now being launched. The Longship project marks a milestone in reducing industrial emissions – both in Norway and internationally.
Longship is Norway’s largest climate investment ever and Europe’s first complete CCS value chain. The project includes CO₂ capture at Heidelberg Materials’ cement plant in Brevik and the planned facility at Hafslund Celsio’s waste-to-energy plant in Oslo. The CO₂ is transported by ship and safely stored 2,600 meters beneath the seabed at Øygarden, near Bergen, managed by Northern Lights – a joint venture between Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies.
The first shipment of CO₂ was transported from the Brevik cement plant to the Northern Lights facility in Øygarden in early June. The CO₂ has now been transferred to storage tanks, and injection into the subsea reservoirs is scheduled to begin in August.
Minister of Energy Terje Aasland said: “Longship demonstrates that it is possible to cut emissions from the industry and waste in a safe and effective way. This is a technological breakthrough and a milestone in Norway’s climate efforts. We have built a complete value chain for CO₂ management that will have significant impact far beyond our borders.”
In Phase 1, 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ will be stored annually. The Ministry has approved the development plan for Northern Lights Phase 2, which will increase the capacity to over 5 million tonnes per year. This makes Longship a key component of Europe’s climate strategy. The EU has recognized Northern Lights as a “Project of Common Interest,” enabling €131 million in funding from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).
For more news like this, click here.
