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World’s First Offshore Carbon Storage Site Launches in Norway’s North Sea

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Business Honor
30 August, 2025

Northern Lights begin storing captured CO2 beneath seabed, aiming to cut industrial emissions globally.

The first commercial facility in the world devoted to storing carbon underwater was opened by Norway. The major energy players like Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies are leading the project, which is called Northern Lights. Its objective is to fight climate change by storing carbon dioxide deep beneath the North Sea's ocean floor. In Europe, CO2 is first extracted from factories and power plants before being changed into a liquid. Shipping companies deliver the liquefied CO2 to a terminal in Øygarden, near Bergen, in western Norway. After passing over a lengthy conduit, it is injected roughly 1.6 miles into the ocean floor, where it will remain indefinitely.

The Carbon Capture and Storage approach, which includes this procedure, is thought to be beneficial for important emissions from heavy sectors like steel and cement. Since it is difficult to completely clean these businesses, storing their CO2 contributes to a reduction in pollution. The first supply of carbon for storage came from a Brevik, Norway and cement industry. Additionally, Northern Lights have contracts with companies in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands to manage their CO2 storage.

By 2030, the site's annual CO2 storage capacity is expected to rise to 5.5 million tons from its current capacity of 1.7 million tons. CCS is criticized by certain specialists, nevertheless. They claim that it is costly and mostly helps fossil fuel industries by allowing them to continue polluting while projecting an image of environmental friendliness. Critic’s struggle that more money should be allocated to renewable energy sources like solar and wind instead. Notwithstanding continuing discussions, Northern Lights are a significant step in the direction of employing subterranean storage as a carbon emission management policy.