New milestone for Northern Lights’ LNG-fueled CO2 carriers

Northern Lights, a joint venture (JV) of energy majors Shell, Equinor and TotalEnergies, has reached a new milestone for its  LNG-powered, wind-assisted CO2 transportation ships.

According to the project’s update on social media, the steel cutting for the CO2 transportation tanks has been carried out at Watts Energy.

The JV said that the construction of the first-of-its-kind CO2 tanks marks an important technical achievement for the two ships that will have a capacity of 7.500 m3 liquefied CO2 each.

The construction of the ships began on 21 November 2022 at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. (DSIC) yard in China. The units are slated for delivery by mid-2024.

The sips will have a total length of about 130 metres, a molded width of 21.2 metres, a structural draft of 8 metres, and will sail under the Norwegian flag. They will be classed by classification society DNV.

The ships will use LNG as a primary fuel, which is expected to keep harmful emissions low. What is more, they will be equipped with wind-assisted propulsion systems and air lubrication technology, anticipated to reduce carbon intensity by around 34% compared to conventional systems. The units will feature ABB’s shaft generator systems.

Once in operation, the units will load captured and liquefied CO2 from European emitters and transport it to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Øygarden in western Norway.

Northern Lights is said to be the first industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to develop an open and flexible infrastructure to safely store CO2 from industries across Europe.

The first phase of the project is due to be completed in mid-2024 and will have the capacity to permanently store up to 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year, with the ambition to expand to over five million tons per year in a second development phase.