The Northern Pioneer is one of four ships transporting CO₂ from industrial sites to a storage facility near Bergen, where it will be injected into a deep saline aquifer.Norway’s first ship in a $2.7B carbon storage plan arrives, aiming to commercialize carbon capture.The Longship project aims to be the world’s first large-scale CCS hub for industrial emissions.
European countries, especially Germany and Nordic nations, see CCS as key to reducing pollution in industries like cement, fertilizers, and steel. However, the technology is still costly and mostly in the demonstration phase.Norway is positioning itself as a CCS leader, investing billions in the Longship project, which serves as a key feasibility test.
The Northern Pioneer, built in Dalian, China, runs mainly on liquefied natural gas and can transport up to 8,000 tons of liquid CO₂, according to its owner, Northern Lights—a joint venture of Equinor ASA, Shell Plc, and TotalEnergies SE.A Heidelberg Materials AG cement plant near Oslo will start capturing CO₂ by mid-year, becoming the first customer of Northern Lights.
The project’s first phase aims to store up to 1.5 million tons of CO₂ annually.
