Equinor and German firm Wintershall Dea are partnering to develop a carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain connecting European CO2 emitters to offshore storage sites on the Norwegian continental shelf
Germany is Europe’s biggest CO2 emitter and Norway holds the continent’s greatest CO2 storage potential. The project aims to contribute to the infrastructure for the transport, injection, and storage of CO2 in suitable reservoirs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.
“This is a strong energy partnership supporting European industrial clusters’ need to decarbonise their operations,” said Equinor chief executive and president Anders Opedal.
A planned 900-km open access pipeline will serve as a CO2collection hub in northern Germany with the storage sites in Norway. The pipeline is expected to come online by 2032, with the capacity of holding 20 to 40M tonnes of CO2 per year (mta).
Germany emits 181 mta of CO2 according to the latest data from the German Environment Agency.
Both companies now plan to jointly apply for offshore CO2 storage licences, aiming to store between 15 to 20 mta on the Norwegian continental shelf. The project will consider early deployment where CO2 is transported by ship from the export hub to the storage sites.
Mr Opedal added, “Wintershall Dea and Equinor are committed to the energy transition and will utilise the competence and experience in both companies to work with governments and partners to help reach the net-zero target.”
This latest project joins other significant existing projects including Denmark’s US$2.4Bn project to develop a CCS value chain in the country and the Northern Lights joint venture, which this week signed a deal with Yara International to transport CO2 from a Dutch petrochemicals facility and store it under the seabed in the North Sea.
