Norwegian Government Proposes the Launch of Landmark Carbon Capture Project

Oslo – Clean Air Task Force welcomes the Government of Norway’s proposal to launch a carbon capture and storage project in Norway called Longship. The government white paper submitted to the Norwegian Parliament proposes to fund the carbon capture facility at the Norcem cement factory in Norway, while the second facility evaluated, the Fortum Oslo Varme waste incineration plant, could be supported if able to raise sufficient additional funding, for example, from the European Union. Longship also includes funding for the CO₂ transportation and offshore storage infrastructure called Northern Lights, a joint project between Equinor, Shell, and Total. Northern Lights is expected to be able to store 1.5 million tons of CO₂   per year in its first phase, potentially expanding to storing 5 million tons per year from industrial sources in Europe in the second phase. Currently, carbon capture facilities globally store 40 million tons annually. The total investment in Longship is expected to be 25.1B NOK ($2.7B), including ten years of operational cost. The government is expected to invest 16.8Billion NOK ($1.8B). A parliamentary vote confirming the proposal is expected later this year. 

“The Norwegian government’s proposal to go ahead with Longship, including Northern Lights, is a historic success for carbon capture. It is key to carbon capture commercialization in Europe but could also accelerate global carbon capture deployment”, said Lee Beck, CCUS Policy Innovation Director at Clean Air Task Force. “Cement alone accounts for six percent of total direct CO₂ emissions and demand for the product is expected to grow significantly. Commercialization of carbon capture technologies for cement decarbonization is urgently needed as there are currently few available solutions. Northern Lights will also form a critical part of the net-zero carbon management infrastructure enabling Europe’s industrial decarbonization paving the way for climate neutrality by mid-century. By raising the profile of carbon capture across Europe, Northern Lights demonstrates that first-movers in decarbonization can draw in additional actors in the capture, transport, and storage value chain, multiplying climate impact.”