World’s First Large-Scale CO2 Storage Site Makes First Injection

A major milestone in climate action has just been achieved in Norway.

Credit: Northern Lights

The world’s first large-scale commercial carbon storage facility is now fully operational, injecting carbon dioxide deep beneath the seabed. Unlike past pilot projects, this system is built to work at scale, locking away emissions for a very long time.

The project, called Northern Lights, has successfully stored its first volumes of carbon dioxide 1.6 miles beneath the seabed. The facility is designed to capture carbon pollution and remove it from the atmosphere for good. It's a relatively simple process and the first consignment of CO2 came from a cement plant in Norway where it was captured, loaded onto ships, and delivered to a coastal hub. From there, it is piped through a 60 mile system before being injected into a geological formation deep under the seabed, known as the Aurora reservoir. Layers of rock act as a natural seal, keeping the gas trapped for thousands of years.

In its first phase, Northern Lights will store 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 each year. That’s equal to removing about 750,000 cars from the road annually. By 2028, capacity is expected to exceed 5 million tonnes. One of the attractions of the new facility is that it is an open service - meaning that it will not just handle Norway’s emissions; it allows other European industries to ship CO2 for storage. Denmark and the Netherlands are among the first to join.

Carbon storage has been discussed for decades, but Northern Lights is the first to launch at a commercial scale. Demand is already high - the facility’s initial capacity is fully booked, and expansion plans are underway.

The project is largely financed by the Norwegian government. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology has been listed as a climate tool by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the International Energy Agency, especially for reducing the CO2 footprint of industries such as cement and steel that are difficult to decarbonize.