Aker Carbon Capture has signed a deal with Northern Lights JV to collaborate on the realization of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects in Norway and across Europe.
"Together, the two companies represent a full value chain offering from carbon capture through transport and storage. The MoU also seeks to optimize logistics and standardize ship-shore interfaces," Northern Lights JV, owned by TotalEnergies, Shell, and Equinor said in a statement Thursday. The memorandum of understanding is non-exclusive.
The Northern Lights project comprises transportation, receipt, and permanent storage of CO2 in a reservoir in the northern North Sea, and will be open to third parties. The project will initially include the capture of CO2 from Norwegian industrial capture sources. It is part of Norway's Longship project which comprises a full-scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project, covering capture, transport, and storage of CO₂. Carbon capture operations are scheduled to start in 2024, with an annual capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year and the possibility to expand this with an additional 3.5 million tonnes.
Commenting on the MoU with Northern Lights JV, Valborg Lundegaard, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Carbon Capture said: “Through the Longship project, Norway has taken a leadership position in enabling industrial decarbonization through Carbon Capture and Storage. This collaboration between Northern Lights and Aker Carbon Capture aims to build on learnings from the Longship project and enable the accelerated deployment of CCS projects across Europe”.
Interest in CCS Picking Up
Børre Jacobsen, Managing Director of Northern Lights JV said: “Interest in CCS is picking up across Europe. Northern Lights is well-positioned to contribute accelerating the development and we are looking forward to working with Aker Carbon Capture to realize the potential of the CCS market in support of climate targets. This will require technical and commercial innovation as well as cross-sector collaboration”.
The parties said that the collaboration would allow emitters access to full value chain offerings at locations where the combined technical concept of Aker Carbon Capture’s technology and the CO2 transport and storage capabilities of Northern Lights is best suited.
Jon Christopher Knudsen, Chief Commercial Officer of Aker Carbon Capture said: “Northern Lights is a first-mover in enabling open-source CO2 transport and storage infrastructure across north-west Europe. With operations starting in 2024 they are an essential player in enabling the accelerated deployment of the CCS industry. Their ambitious plans link very well with Aker Carbon Capture’s ambition to have 10 million tonnes of CO2 on contract by 2025. Together with Northern Lights and with our ‘Carbon Capture as a Service’ offering, we can now develop source-to-storage decarbonization on a pay per tonne of captured CO2 model."