Equinor and Wintershall Dea partner up for large-scale CCS value chain in the North Sea

By Energy Connects

Aug 30, 2022

image is Collaboration Agreement Opedal Mehren WD 4342 Copyright Wintershall Dea Thor Oliversen

Collaboration Agreement Copyright Wintershall Dea, Thor Oliversen

Equinor and Wintershall Dea have agreed to pursue the development of an extensive Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) value chain connecting continental European CO2 emitters to offshore storage sites on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

The Norwegian-German (NOR-GE) CCS project has the ambition to make a vital contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Europe aiming to establish the value chain and infrastructure for the safe transportation, injection, and storage of CO2 in suitable reservoirs on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

“This is a strong energy partnership supporting European industrial clusters’ need to decarbonise their operations. Wintershall Dea and Equinor are committed to the energy transition and will utilise the competence and experience in both companies to work with governments and partners to help reach the net-zero target,” said Anders Opedal, CEO and President of Equinor.

“Wintershall Dea and Equinor will work together to establish technical and commercial solutions for the development of cross-border CCS value chains in Europe and work with governments to shape a regulatory framework that can enable this. We will build on our close cooperation and open the next chapter of German-Norwegian partnership”, commented Mario Mehren, CEO of Wintershall Dea.

An approximately 900-kilometre-long open access pipeline is planned to connect the CO2 collection hub in Northern Germany and the storage sites in Norway and is aimed to be commissioned by 2032. It is expected to have a capacity of 20 to 40 million tonnes of CO2 per year – equivalent to around twenty per cent of all German industrial emissions per year. The project will also consider an early deployment solution where CO2 is planned to be transported by ship from the CO2 export hub to the storage sites.

Wintershall Dea and Equinor also plan to jointly apply for offshore CO2 storage licences, aiming to store between 15 and 20 million tonnes per year on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.