It takes many years of trial and error and testing before you can be sure that a storage site is secure. Patience and perseverance are two guiding principles here.

The CLIMIT programme has supported a wide range of projects

Through real-world carbon storage projects and research and development, a large amount of knowledge has been gained in Norway that will be useful for future CCS projects. Lab-based research projects have received support through the R&D part of CLIMIT. More mature technologies have received support through the demo part of the programme. Close cooperation between the Research Council of Norway and Gassnova has led to significant results, which we are now reaping the results of.

Many of the projects in the project portfolio have aided the Longship project. Even though we have gained a lot of knowledge, our goal is yet to be reached. CLIMIT continues to support more carbon storage projects. You can read more about some of the projects in this overview of CLIMIT projects. 

Gassnova has studied potential carbon storage sites

Northern Lights, the transport and storage part of Longship, will store CO₂ in the Johansen formation, south of the Troll field. In 2008, 3D seismic data was collected by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate south of the Troll field in the North Sea. The purpose of this was to survey whether the sandstone in the Johansen formation south of the Troll field was suitable for permanent carbon storage and to propose the placement of CO₂ injection wells for future CCS projects.

New seismic data was collected by Gassnova south of the seismic area from 2008 and east of the Troll field. Gassnova and a number of consultants carried out a thorough study of the Johansen formation and Sognefjord formation from the Late Jurassic period. This study resulted in two reports being published in 2012. The report indicated two areas of interest for carbon storage: the Smeaheia area east of the Troll field and the Johansen formation south of the Troll field. This was the beginning of what is now the storage site (the Johansen formation), where Northern Lights is working to get a permanent carbon storage site up and running.

To date, six storage licences have been awarded to various operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, all of which are gaining their own experience.

This was the clear message from Gassnova CEO Morten Henriksen during a roundtable discussion in Denmark on Thursday. 

 

Norway and Denmark are working together at both the governmental and corporate level

In connection with the official visit of Their Majesties King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway to Her Majesty Queen Margrethe and Denmark on 15 and 16 June, a roundtable discussion was held on the topic of CCS between national authorities and industry leaders from both countries. Both Norway and Denmark are prioritising carbon capture and storage.

“Norway and Denmark have much to gain from co-operating on carbon capture and storage and are already well on the way towards this. To make CCS profitable, it is essential that infrastructure will be developed at large-scale. Norway and Denmark alone are not likely to have sufficient emissions to make CCS profitable. This means these countries are completely dependent on co-operating with other countries,” says Henriksen.

Longship

Through the Longship project, Norway is close to establishing Europe’s first entire carbon capture value chain, capturing industrial emissions, transporting the carbon by ship and pipes and permanently storing it offshore. First, CO₂ from the Heidelberg Materials cement factory in Brevik will be captured and stored. However, the transport and storage operator Northern Lights has built additional capacity into its infrastructure and offers carbon transport and storage as a service to other industrial enterprises wanting to implement carbon capture. In May, it was announced that Northern Lights had entered into an agreement with the Danish energy company Ørsted for the storage of 430,000 tonnes of carbon. 

“Longship is a vital first step. Going forward, we need to facilitate the development of infrastructure at a larger scale,” says Henriksen.

At a governmental level, Norway and Denmark have had strong dialogue for a number of years. In 2019, Gassnova arranged a study visit to Norway for Danish authorities with participants from the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, the Danish Energy Agency, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland and the Danish Embassy in Norway. At the time, CCS was not a part of Denmark’s climate policy. Since then, there have been major developments in Denmark regarding CCS. Today, Denmark is one of the most advanced countries in the EU in this area.

Northern Lights JV and Ørsted announce the signing of a CO₂ Transport and Services Agreement (TSA) to store 430,000 tonnes biogenic CO₂ emissions per year from two power plants in Denmark.

Source: Northern Lights

From 2026 Northern Lights will be shipping the first cargo of biogenic CO₂ from Denmark to Norway

“We are very pleased that Ørsted has selected Northern Lights as CO₂ tranport and storage provider. Ørsted is our second commercial customer who, together with Yara, gives us the opportunity to further utilise the capacity at our storage site below the North Sea. This agreement confirms the commercial potential for CCS and demonstrates that the market for transport and storage of CO₂ is evolving rapidly”, says Børre Jacobsen, Managing Director of Northern Lights. 

Today, Ørsted was awarded public funding from the Danish Energy Agency under the first Danish tender of the CCUS Fund to develop a CO₂ capture hub for the biomass power stations Asnæs and Avedøre. The facilities will capture and liquefy 430,000 tonnes of biogenic CO₂ per year. Northern Lights will transport the liquefied CO₂ by ship for permanent offshore storage below the North Sea.  

On 5 April, Celsio submitted its biannual cost and uncertainty analysis under the terms of its government funding agreement. This analysis sets out significant cost overruns and delays.

Good dialogue

– “We raised our concerns last November and asked Celsio to consider putting the project on hold. Celsio has now concluded that it would be sensible to do so,” says Roy Vardheim, Gassnova CEO.

Hafslund Oslo Celsio is responsible for the implementation of the carbon capture project. In light of the fact that the Norwegian government is contributing a significant proportion of the project’s financing, Celsio signed a funding agreement with the government to regulate their relationship. Gassnova is responsible for monitoring Celsio’s project management and overseeing the terms of the grant agreement on behalf of the government, including its cost and risk management.

– “We have maintained an open channel with Celsio that has been characterised by good dialogue throughout a series of monitoring activities during the winter. These have included a third party audit and a maturity study under the auspices of DNV,” says Vardheim.

Different roles

When the maximum budget in a government funding agreement is exceeded, the government is not obliged to contribute further financing but the parties are jointly obliged to seek out a mutually agreeable solution on behalf of the project. The parties will enter into dialogue on the road ahead for the project.

According to a press release from Celsio, the project will enter a 12-month cost reduction period. The company and its owners still wish to see the project through to completion, but they will be investing time in finding solutions that reduce the associated costs.

No impact on the completion of Longship

The changes to Celsio’s project will not have any impact on the completion of Longship as a whole chain for the capture, transportation and storage of CO₂. The Heidelberg Materials and Northern Lights projects have both passed the halfway point in their construction process and will be in a position to capture and store CO₂ from 2025.

Press contact:

Camilla Bergsli

cb@gassnova.no
+47 99 69 11 85