The ships are being built by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC) shipyard in China. The ships will carry liquid CO₂ from carbon capture plants to Northern Lights’ terminal in Øygarden, on the west coast of Norway. 

Two ships will be built, both 130 metres long and with a loading capacity of 7,500 m³. The ships have been specially designed to transport liquid CO₂ in custom-built tanks.

– We are pleased to see the construction start for these first of its kind CO₂ transport ships. The shipping solution enables flexibility and scalability as Northern Lights develops the world’s first open-source infrastructure for CO₂ transport and storage, says Børre Jacobsen, CEO of Northern Lights in a press release.

The ships will use LNG as their primary fuel and utilise innovative technologies such as a wind-assisted propulsion system and an air lubrication system to reduce emissions.

The ships will be ready in 2024. Once they are operational, they will transport liquid CO₂ from carbon capture plants to the Northern Lights reception terminal in Øygarden on the west coast of Norway. From here, the CO₂ will be pumped through pipelines to reservoirs where it will be permanently and securely stored 2,600 metres below the seabed in the North Sea. 

Making history

The construction contract for the two transport ships were awarded to Dalain Shipbuilding Industry Co. after an extensive bidding process, according to Northern Lights. The shipyard is located in Dalian in China’s Liaoning province and is one of the leading shipbuilding groups in China.

“This steel cutting milestone is a historic event for the shipping industry. These first of its kind ships will pave the way to set a new standard for CO₂ shipping. DSIC are proud to deliver the ships in a safe, high-quality, and timely manner” says Gai Yong, project manager at DSIC.

The Longship CCS project

Northern Lights is a part of the Norwegian CCS project Longship. The project is a collaboration between the Norwegian state and private businesses. Northern Lights is responsible for the transport and storage aspects of the project. The Heidelberg Materials cement factory and the Hafslund Oslo Celsio waste facility plant at Klemetsrud are the two capture operators for the project.

This CCS project is the first of its kind in the world, aimed at developing an infrastructure with the capacity to store significant amounts of CO₂ from multiple countries. In August 2022, Northern Lights signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a commercial basis with Yara to store CO₂ from Yara’s facility in the Netherlands.

Source: Northern Lights

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