Carbon capture and storage projects across Europe

Europe has seen an increase in efforts to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) and store it underground. This is a result of governments and industries trying to lower their emissions to achieve their climate goals.

Carbon capture and Storage (CCS) technology is a method of capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it underground. The CO2 captured can be used in various industrial applications.

According to the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, there are approximately 70 CCS projects currently underway or planned in Europe. These are just a few of the projects that are currently in development:

NORTH SEA

NORWAY

* Northern Lights is a joint venture between Equinor , TotalEnergies , Shell and TotalEnergies . It will begin injecting 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per annum (mtpa), into the saline water aquifer near Troll gas field in the middle of 2024. As per demand, there are plans to increase storage capacity by 5-6 mtpa starting in 2026.

Equinor's project Smeaheia to build a North Sea storage site with the potential to inject as much as 20 mtpa starting in 2027/2028. Equinor was granted the exploration license in 2022. It said that it plans to inject the CO2 from hydrogen production and some industrial customers in Europe. The final investment decision is expected to be made by the company in 2025.

* Luna is a project by German Wintershall Dea [RIC.RIC.WINT.UL], which aims to store up to 5 million tonnes per annum of CO2 on a site 120km west from Bergen. In October, Wintershall Dea was awarded an exploration license along with its Norwegian partner Cape Omega. Wintershall Dea holds 60% of the license, while Norway's Cape Omega holds the remaining 40%.

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* Errai is a joint project of Neptune Energy in Britain and Norway's Horisont Energi . It aims to build a North Sea storage site with 4-8 mtpa and a receiving terminal. The license must be applied for by the partners.

BRITAIN

* Acorn CCS is a project off Scotland that will develop a storage facility with a capacity of 5-10 million tonnes per year of CO2 by 2030. Storegga Shell, Harbour Energy and North Sea Midstream Partners (NSMP), each own 30% of the stakes. The remaining 10% is held by North Sea Midstream Partners.

* Viking CCS is a project previously known as V Net Zero. It was led by Harbour Energy , an independent oil and gas company. The goal is to store 10 mtpa CO2 in depleted North Sea gas fields by 2030. It will begin injecting CO2 at a rate initially of 2 mtpa.

* Northern Endurance is a BP-led partnership. It aims to build infrastructure to transport and store approximately 20 mtpa CO2 from two industrial clusters in Teesside, and Humberside starting in 2030. The project will transport CO2 via pipelines, to a storage location some 145km offshore in the northern North Sea. The project also has other partners, including National Grid (NG.L.), Equinor Shell, TotalEnergies, and Shell.

NETHERLANDS

* Porthos is a project of the port of Rotterdam and Gasunie. It aims to store 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 in the North Sea's depleted gas fields. Four industrial partners have already contracted all storage capacity: Air Liquide , Air Products , Shell (XOM.N ) and Shell. Although the project was to begin CO2 injections between 2024-2025, it is likely that the startup will be delayed by legal obstacles.

* L10, a project by Neptune Energy to store 4-5 million tonnes of CO2 in a Dutch North Sea depleted gas field, first injections to begin in 2026. Rosewood Exploration, ExxonMobil and the state-owned EBN are also partners in this project.

DENMARK

* Greensand is a project of INEOS Energy and Wintershall Dea. It plans to inject up to 1.5 mtpa CO2 into oil and gas fields depleted in the Danish North Sea section. This will be followed by an increase of 8 mtpa capacity by 2030.

TotalEnergies is leading the project Bifrost. It aims to inject as much as 3 mtpa CO2 into an oil and gas field that has been depleted in the Danish North Sea section starting in 2027. Orsted (ORSTED.CO), which owns offshore pipelines, is also involved in the project. Potentially, Bifrost could also be explored to inject up to 10 million mtpa by 2030.

GERMANY

* Wilhelmshaven's CO2 export terminal. This project was led by Wintershall Dea. It aims to construct a CO2 storage and liquefaction facility at Wilhelmshaven. The CO2 can then be shipped to or piped to permanent storage locations under the North Sea. The initial goal is to handle approximately 1 mtpa CO2 starting in 2026.

AUTOTHER STORAGE POINTS

BRITAIN

* North West Project aims to transform gas and fuel gas from Stanlow refinery, Cheshire into low-carbon hydrocarbon hydrogen. It will capture and transfer the CO2 produced by the process via pipelines to off-shore storage in Liverpool Bay. As storage, existing salt caverns from Cheshire will be used. Operation will begin in 2025. It will store approximately 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year, rising to 10 million by 2030.

BULGARIA

* ANRAV is a private Irish energy company Petroceltic that will link CO2 capture equipment at HeidelbergCement's (HEIG.DE), Devnya cement plants in north-eastern Bulgaria and offshore permanent storage in Galata's depleted Black Sea Gas Field. It is expected to begin operations in 2028 and will produce 800,000 tonnes per year.

FRANCE

* PYCASSO is a project that captures carbon from the south-west France and the north of Spain, and stores it in an Aquitaine depleted gas field. It is expected that the project will transport approximately 1 mtpa CO2 by 2030.

ICELAND

* The Coda Terminal is a cross-border carbon storage and transport hub in Straumsvik. It will be operated by Carbfix, an Icelandic carbon storage company. The terminal will receive CO2 from industrial companies and dissolve it in water before being injected into basalt rock. This will allow for the production of up to 3 million tonnes per year of CO2 starting in 2031.

* The Silverstone Project, co-ordinated and managed by Carbfix will use commercial scale CO2 capture, dissolve it in water, inject it underground basalt rock to store it for mineral storage at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant, near Mount Hengill. Silverstone will store approximately 25.000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. It is expected that it will be operational in the first quarter 2025.

ITALY

* CCS Ravenna hub, headed by Eni (ENI.MI.), is a project that aims to capture and transport CO2 into offshore depleted natural gas reservoirs off Ravenna's coast, in the Adriatic Sea. The project's first phase is expected to be completed in 2023. The total capture, transport, and storage chain can handle CO2 up to 100,000 mt/a

IRELAND

* The Cork CCS Project stores carbon from Irish industrial facilities in a depleted gasfield in the Celtic Sea. It may also re-use an existing transport pipeline. Utility Ervia is the project leader.

SWEDEN

* Slite CCS is a CCS project led by HeidelbergCement, its Swedish subsidiary Cementa and its Slite cement plant, on the Swedish island Gotland in the Baltic Sea. It will capture approximately 3% of the country’s total CO2 emissions at 1.8 million tonnes per annum.

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