Yara and Northern Lights have signed the world’s first commercial agreement on cross border CO2 transport and storage. This opens the market for cross border CO2 transport and storage as a service.
Yara and Northern Lights have agreed on the main commercial terms to transport CO2 captured from Yara Sluiskil, an ammonia and fertiliser plant in the Netherlands, and permanently store it under the seabed off the coast of western Norway.
When the final contractual details are finalized, it will be the first ever cross border CO2 transport and storage agreement. It will also set the standard for other industrial companies across Europe looking to use Northern Lights – and other emerging CO2 transport options and stores in the North Sea – as a key part of their decarbonisation strategies.
From early 2025, 800,000 tonnes of pure CO2 will be captured, compressed and liquefied in the Netherlands, and then transported to the Northern Lights store at 2,600 metres under the seabed off the coast of Øygarden.
Action to decarbonise industry is urgent and Yara is a frontrunner. I am very pleased to announce that we are now on our way to removing CO2 emissions from our production plant in Sluiskil
said Svein Tore Holsether, CEO Yara International ASA.
In addition, Børre Jacobsen, Managing Director of Northern Lights, mentioned that “from early 2025 we will be shipping the first tonnes of CO2 from the Netherlands to Norway. This will demonstrate that CCS is a climate tool for Europe.”
Northern Lights is the transport and storage part of the Longship project, funded 80% by the Norwegian government. Building on over 20 years of offshore CO2 storage in Norway, the government has worked closely with Norwegian industrial emitters and Northern Lights to create the world’s first open access full value chain CCS model.
As part of its funding, the government stipulated that Northern Lights develop a commercial business model and offer its service to the rest of Europe.
Earlier in 2022, on April 29, the Crown Prince of Norway, Haakon Magnus, celebrated the christening of Yara Birkeland, the world’s first electric, autonomous container vessel.
The ship will transport fertilizer across the fjord from Yara’s Porsgrunn plant to Brevik port, eliminating the carbon emissions of 40,000 diesel truck loads per year.
Yara developed the battery-driven ship in collaboration with several Norwegian partners. Kongsberg Maritime has developed and delivered the technology. The ship is built by Vard.
Yara Birkeland will be operated by a joint venture undertaken by the Kongsberg Group and Massterly, which is owned by the Wilhelmsen Group. Enova, owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, has contributed financially (NOK 133.5 million) to the development of Yara Birkeland.
Yara Birkeland will be put into operation in 2022. Initially, it will start a two-year trial period to become autonomous and certified as an autonomous, all-electric container vessel.
