Pioneering work: CO₂ capture and storage in the North Sea

What actually happens to the remaining CO₂ that cannot yet be avoided in the production of modern fuels, for example?

The answer is carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The company Northern Lights in the North Sea is currently carrying out real pioneering work in this area. The biggest step forward: it recently commissioned the world’s first commercial CO₂ storage facility!

Good to know:
The CO₂ comes from industrial plants, was transported in liquefied form by ship to the Öygarden terminal on Norway’s west coast and filled into tanks there. These were safely transported in a 100-kilometre pipeline to the Aurora reservoir in the Norwegian North Sea and injected for permanent storage – 2,600 meters below the seabed. From 2026, additional quantities of CO₂ from Denmark and the Netherlands will also be taken in.

At the same time, Northern Lights made the investment decision for the second expansion phase in March 2025: The transport and storage capacity will be increased from the current 1.5 to at least 5 million tons of CO₂ per year. The expansion includes additional tanks, pumps, a new port jetty, further injection wells and additional transport ships. This is made possible by a commercial agreement with Stockholm Exergi and funding from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility for Energy program.

Northern Lights is a joint venture between Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell.

Photos: Northern Lights