Home / Environment / Norway Pioneers Offshore Carbon Storage, Injects First CO2 into Seabed
Norway Pioneers Offshore Carbon Storage, Injects First CO2 into Seabed
25 Aug
Summary
- World's first commercial carbon storage service off Norway's coast
- CO2 captured at European smokestacks injected into North Sea seabed
- Aims to prevent emissions and help halt climate change
On August 25, 2025, Norway's Northern Lights consortium, a partnership between oil giants Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies, has achieved a significant milestone in the fight against climate change. The consortium has successfully carried out the inaugural CO2 injection into the North Sea seabed, marking the world's first commercial service offering carbon storage.
The Northern Lights project aims to transport and permanently store CO2 captured from industrial facilities across Europe, preventing these emissions from being released into the atmosphere. According to the consortium's managing director, Tim Heijn, the ships, facilities, and wells are now in operation, and the first CO2 injection was from a cement plant in Brevik, southeastern Norway.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been recognized by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency as a crucial tool for reducing emissions, particularly in hard-to-decarbonize industries like cement and steel. However, the process is complex and costly, and without financial assistance, it is currently more profitable for industries to purchase pollution permits than to invest in CCS.
Despite these challenges, Northern Lights has already signed three commercial contracts in Europe, including with an ammonia plant in the Netherlands, two biofuel plants in Denmark, and a thermal power plant in Sweden. Largely financed by the Norwegian state, the project has an annual CO2 storage capacity of 1.5 million tonnes, which is expected to increase to five million tonnes by the end of the decade.
