Northern Lights – a joint venture between energy giants Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies – has placed an order at China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corp (DSIC) to build two dedicated CO2 carriers
The order is part of the first phase of Northern Lights’ CO2 transport and storage infrastructure development.
Both 130-m ships will have a cargo capacity of 7,500 m3. The ships are dedicated CO2 carriers, built to transport liquid CO2 with purpose-built pressurised cargo tanks and will be fuelled by LNG. In addition, new technologies such as a wind-assisted propulsion system and air lubrication will be installed to reduce carbon intensity by around 34% compared with conventional systems.
The ships will be registered in Norway, classed by DNV and operated by Northern Lights under the Norwegian flag.
Once in operation, the ships will load captured and liquefied CO2 from European emitters and transport it to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Øygarden, western Norway.
The CO2 volumes will be accurately measured and reported throughout the value chain. These will be independently verified, and the necessary documentation provided to regulators and customs officials.
Calling the award of the contracts a “significant milestone”, Northern Lights managing director Børre Jacobsen added, “The use of ships will enable the development of a flexible and efficient European infrastructure network for transporting CO2 captured by our industrial customers, keeping costs as low as possible to help decarbonisation scale up. I am also very pleased these ships will be built to keep their own emissions to a minimum through the use of innovative technology.”
DSIC will deliver the vessels by mid-2024.
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