Equinor ASA has been awarded licenses for the event of two new carbon dioxide (CO2) storage areas within the North Sea by the Norwegian Ministry of Power.
Equinor was awarded 100% share in every of the 2 licenses, known as Albondigas and Kinno. The brand new licenses are vital constructing blocks for growing the Norwegian Continental Shelf into a number one space for CO2 storage in Europe, the corporate stated in a information launch.
The brand new licenses are every anticipated to have the capability to retailer round 5 million tons of CO2 per yr as soon as operational. The estimate might be additional decided within the exploration part, in line with the discharge.
“We’re very happy to see the Norwegian authorities have made new CCS [carbon capture and storage] acreage out there for exploration and that we’ve been awarded these two licenses,” Grete Tveit, senior vp for Low Carbon Options at Equinor, stated. “We see that demand for CO2 storage is rising in a number of nations, and it’s essential to convey ahead new CO2 storages rapidly, in order that we will provide industrial options that may help massive scale decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries in Europe”.
Equinor stated it expects a price of 4 to eight p.c actual base undertaking returns for its early part CO2 storage enterprise, and additional worth uplift potential when business markets are developed. The corporate added that it has ambitions to develop extra storage licenses within the North Sea within the coming years.
Additional, Equinor is maturing a ship-based answer in addition to a big pipeline to attach industrial emissions in Europe with storage alternatives on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The deliberate pipeline, named CO2 Freeway Europe, can have capability to move 25 million to 35 million tons of CO2 per yr from Belgium and France. The Smeaheia storage license, awarded to Equinor in 2022, is the anchor storage for this pipeline improvement and Albondigas and Kinno might be extra storage alternatives that may be linked, in line with the discharge.
Equinor can be about to finish the primary part of the Northern Lights CO2 transport and storage facility along with Shell and Complete Energies. Will probably be able to obtain CO2 by the second half of this yr, it famous.
“[The] scale up of CO2 transport and storage is crucial to fulfill the curiosity and demand for any such providers. Getting access to extra CO2 storage capability aligns nicely with our ambition of getting 30 to 50 million tons of CO2 transport and storage capability per yr by 2035,” Tveit stated.
Earlier within the week, Equinor and French fuel transmission operator GRTgaz signed a undertaking improvement settlement (PDA) for the deliberate CO2 Freeway Europe pipeline undertaking.
The undertaking will assist decarbonize the Dunkirk industrial space, which accounts for round 20 p.c of France’s industrial CO2 emissions. GRTgaz will develop an 18.6-mile (30-kilometer) onshore pipeline community within the Dunkirk area and a compressor station in Dunkirk which can ship CO2 into the offshore pipeline connecting to CO2 Freeway Europe.
Equinor’s CO2 Freeway Europe is a large-scale CO2 pipeline deliberate by Equinor which additionally connects Zeebrugge, Belgium to a portfolio of storage websites beneath the seabed offshore Norway, Equinor said.
To contact the writer, electronic mail rocky.teodoro@rigzone.com
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