New pipes are drilled down from a platform in the North Sea. For several decades, people have done this in order to retrieve oil and gas far below sea level. But this time nothing will be picked up. In two years, large amounts of CO₂ will be sent down the chimney. The climate-hazardous gas must be stored several thousand meters below sea level, so that it never reaches the atmosphere and contributes to climate change. Photo: Northern Lights – Europeans are particularly interested The project to store carbon, or CO₂, in the North Sea was called “Langskip” and is run by the company Northern Lights. In total, the state will spend NOK 19 billion on storing the greenhouse gas in the rock under the sea. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland believes it is a good investment. – There is great interest in it all over the world, but Europe is particularly interested. I think that is a very good thing. In May, Norway entered into a “groundbreaking” agreement with Great Britain to store greenhouse gases from London’s garbage in the North Sea. In addition, several companies have entered into agreements or shown interest: – Part of the solution for the future The world must limit global warming, preferably by cutting as many emissions as possible. But one can also bury the discharge, far below the seabed. Facts about “Langskip” “Langskip” is a project within carbon capture and storage (CCS). This technology is highlighted as important for reaching the climate targets in the Paris Agreement by, among others, the IPCC and IEA. “Langskip” consists of two capture facilities and a storage site for the greenhouse gas CO₂. The one capture plant will be built at HeidelbergCement’s factory in Brevik. Here, 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ will be captured annually. The second capture facility will be built at the recycling facility at Klemetsrud in Oslo. The facility is owned by Oslo Municipality, Hafslund Eco, Infranode and HitecVision. Here, too, around 400,000 tonnes of CO₂ will be captured annually. The storage project is called “Northern Lights” and is owned by Equinor, Total and Shell. From a terminal in Øygarden, CO₂ will be pumped via a pipeline to a well and permanently stored 2,600 meters below the seabed. The cost of all three projects was estimated to be NOK 25.1 billion over ten years. Since then, cost increases have been announced both in Brevik and at Klemetsrud. According to the plan, the central government will contribute NOK 16.8 billion. On the rig Transocean Enabler, a few miles west of Bergen, they are more than halfway through the work of getting pipes and pumps ready. – This is incredibly exciting, this is part of the solution for the future, says Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland, who is visiting the rig. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland says he has great faith in the European market. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news Cheaper to release the greenhouse gas The Minister of Energy believes that the interest from Europe makes it interesting to further develop the project into something profitable. Because there is simply nothing to be gained from sending greenhouse gas under the seabed, purely economically. – Right now it is much cheaper to let it out and pay the allowance price than to handle the CO2, says Northern Lights CEO Børre Jacobsen. Nevertheless, he believes that it is not far from being profitable. – I think we are getting close. We see a huge interest in carbon capture and storage, because the price of emissions is going up. Photo: Oddgeir Øystese / news Will continue to pump up oil and gas So far there are only a few plants for carbon capture in the world. If such plants are to save the planet, a new plant must be built every single day, according to calculations made by news in 2020. In Norway, there are no plans to stop extracting oil and gas anytime soon. – Isn’t it a paradox that you have to save the climate by storing CO₂ in the sea, while you still pump oil and gas that creates CO₂ in the atmosphere? – No, it is not. The fact that Norway is a long-term supplier of energy in Europe is very important, believes Oil and Energy Minister Aasland.
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