Northern Light - enabling decarbonisation of industrial emissions

Overview of the CCS value chain. The Northern Light component is the transportation and storage of CO₂ (photo courtesy Northern Lights)

Northern Light is responsible for the transport and storage infrastructure. The onshore receiving terminal is being constructed in Øygarden, near Bergen on the West coast of Norway. Liquid CO₂ will be shipped to Øygarden from large industrial sources in Norway and Europe before it is transported by pipeline 100 km offshore and injected in to a reservoir for permanent storage 2600 meters below the seabed.

The first development phase will have capacity to store 1.5 million tons of CO₂ per year in the Johansen formation south of the Troll oil and gas field. The project will be scaled up as CO₂ storage demand grows across Europe. CCS is necessary for decarbonisation of industries such as steel and cement and can remove as much as 90% of the CO₂ emissions from these producers. Owners of the Northern Lights JV are Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies.

Illustration of the Northern Light facilities at the Energy Park in Øygarden outside of Bergen (Illustration: Northern Lights)

Hallingdal Bergboring has been contracted to install the large diameter steel piles used as foundation for the jetty and two dolphin points. The piles are drilled through boulder fillings on the seafloor and into intact competent rock. Steel cores are drilled into rock inside of the piles, cast out and used as bearing element for the structure.

The structure is designed to handle both vertical, horizontal and tensile loads. The dolphin point used inclined piles (1:5) to ensure enough lateral capacity. In total 28 pile points made up the jetty structure and 3 piles are used for the dolphin points. A walkway will connect the three structures contains a shore power platform for vessels.