Cross-border CO2 transport and storage project to advance EU’s energy goals

The project concept for a new cross-border carbon dioxide (CO2) storage solution named NoordKaap will involve the transportation of CO2 captured from industrial emitters for direct injection at offshore locations and for terminal offloading, announced project developers CapeOmega and Neptune Energy (Neptune).

Revealed today (22^nd Feb), NoordKaap aims to provide cost-effective, scalable infrastructure solutions to aid large-scale, flexible CO2 transport and storage from multiple industrial emitters clusters.

Having signed a Letter of Intent with the partners, German multinational energy company RWE will help to assess the possibility to ship green CO2 from their biomass Eemshaven facility for offshore storage in the Dutch North Sea.

By exploring the potential for a network-based approach to carbon capture and storage (CCS) via marine transport, NoordKaap will contribute to the completion of Dutch, Norwegian and European climate and energy goals.

As part of the project, CapeOmega will supply the infrastructure required to safely and successfully transport and store CO2.

“NoordKaap would enable us to use our position and experience in pipeline, terminal, shipping and offshore licence ownership to support CCS and decarbonisation,” added EvyGlørstad, CEO at CapeOmega.

According to Neptune, the project will also examine CCS transportation opportunities for industrial clusters in Germany, Belgium, Scandinavia and northern France, in addition to providing access to CO2 subsurface storage sites offshore the Netherlands and Norway.

To meet its target to become climate neutral by 2050, the EU plans to reduce emissions via CCS technology and power production through renewables.

The Global CCS Institute has stated that a rapid acceleration of CCS is required if the EU is to ‘sufficiently reduce’ industrial emissions. By mid-century, CCS facilities will need to grow from 65 to 2,000, according to the Institute.

“CO2 storage is a crucial component for meeting the EU’s climate goals and for a well-functioning CCS market,” commented Lex de Groot, Managing Director of Neptune Energy in the Netherlands.

“Both emitters and storage providers need to be able to transport CO2 safely, and we know access to pipelines will be limited for some, so we are focusing on both types of transport to offshore storage facilities: piping and shipping.”

Planned to begin operations in 2028, NoordKaap has been submitted to the EU as a Project of Mutual Interest on the 6^thPCI List.