In a groundbreaking achievement, Norway has launched the world’s first merchant CO₂ transport and storage service, Northern Lights, marking a new era for industrial decarbonization. This initiative is part of Norway’s ambitious Longship CCS program, established to provide a scalable, commercial solution for capturing and permanently storing CO₂ emissions from across Europe.

The project’s inaugural CO₂ injection was a significant milestone: CO₂ captured from Heidelberg Materials’ cement plant in Brevik was transported by ship, delivered to onshore tanks, and pumped through a 100km pipeline before being sequestered 2,600 meters beneath the seabed in the North Sea.

Northern Lights stands out for its merchant model, offering CO₂ transport and storage as a service: a first of its kind. Phase 1, with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year, is already fully booked by customers across Norway and continental Europe. Partners Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies have now greenlighted Phase 2, a NOK 7.5 billion expansion aimed at ramping up capacity to more than 5 million tonnes annually by 2028. This next phase is partially supported by a substantial EU grant and Norway’s Longship initiative.

By transforming CCS from pilot projects to a commercial, crossborder infrastructure, Norway is setting an example for the rest of Europe. The Northern Lights project opens new pathways for decarbonizing heavy industries, like cement, fertilizer, and wastetoenergy, by enabling companies to store otherwise hardtoabate emissions.

Northern Lights proves that CCS can be viable, scalable, and commercially structured, positioning Norway not just as a carbon storage host, but as a pioneer in the emerging European CCS market.

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https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/norways-northern-lights-ccs-project-starts-operations-with-first-co2-injected-2025-08-25