TotalEnergies announced on 29 Aug that Northern Lights, a project to help industries safely store CO2 emissions underground, and Yara have signed a commercial agreement to transport and store CO2 captured from Yara Sluiskil, an ammonia and fertilizer plant in the Netherlands.

Northern Lights is a joint venture between TotalEnergies and Shell. 

From early 2025, 800,000 tonnes of CO2 per year will be captured, compressed, and liquefied in the Netherlands and then transported to the Northern Lights site to be permanently stored in geological layers some 2,600 meters under the seabed off the coast of Øygarden, in Norway.

This agreement, the first of its kind worldwide, is a major milestone in the decarbonization of heavy industry in Europe, paving the way for international CO2 transport and storage as a service. It sets a new standard for European industrial companies looking to use Northern Lights solutions as part of their decarbonisation strategies.

“Developing CO2 transportation and storage services is crucial for decarbonizing European industry: we are pleased to welcome Yara as first commercial partner for Northern Lights, which will help support its decarbonization strategy,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies. 

“TotalEnergies aims to develop a CO2 storage capacity of more than 10 million tonnes per year by 2030, both for its own facilities and for its customers, in line with its ambition to get to net zero by 2050, together with society.”

“Yara, our first commercial customer, will fill the available capacity of Northern Lights Phase 1. This agreement will establish a market for CO2 transport and storage. From early 2025, we will be shipping the first tons of CO2 from the Netherlands to Norway. This will demonstrate that CCS is a climate tool for Europe,” said Børre Jacobsen, Northern Lights Managing Director.

“We urgently need to take action to decarbonize industry, and Yara is a frontrunner in the field. I am very pleased to announce that we are now on our way to removing CO2 emissions from our production plant in Sluiskil. This will take us a step closer to carbon-free food production and accelerate the supply of clean ammonia for fuel and power production,” said Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara International.

Press release edited by Suzanna Hayek