Northern Lights, an Equinor-led Joint Venture has awarded a contract to Chinese Yard Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC) Ltd.

The award will see DSIC build two LNG-powered CO2 carriers— the first of its kind designed to keep emissions of CO2 low— to transport liquid carbon dioxide from European Industrial emitters to a receiving terminal in Øygarden, Western Norway.

From there, the CO2 will be transported via pipeline for permanent storage in a geological reservoir 2600 metres under the seabed in the North Sea. The project is in phases: Phase one entails the construction of the two carriers each with a cargo size of 7,500m³and length of 130m.

By keeping emissions from the carriers low, in addition to the use of LNG as primary fuel, other innovative technologies will be installed. In this instance, a wind assisted propulsion system and air lubrication are the preferred choice to reduce carbon intensity by around 34 per cent. As a result of this, the ships will potentially set a new standard for CO2 shipping on coastal trading routes.

While the volumes of liquid CO2 is being transported, they will be accurately measured and reported throughout the value chain. They will also undergo independent verification and the necessary documentation provided to regulators and custom officials.

Børre Jacobsen, Managing Director of Northern Lights JV, commented:

“The award of these contracts is a significant milestone for Northern Lights. The use of ships will enable the development of a flexible and efficient European infrastructure network for transport of CO2… keeping costs as low as possible. I am also very pleased that these ships will be built to keep their own emissions to a minimum through use of innovative technology.”
Børre Jacobsen

Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company highlights track record

DSIC noted that its track record in delivering gas vessels helped it beat more than 50 rival yards in snaring the Northern Lights contract.

Riqiang Hu, Marketing Director of DSIC highlighted:

“As a shipyard since 1898, DSIC has always been innovative and designed and delivered many record-breaking projects. Responding to the low emission strategy, DSIC worked together with Northern Lights for the development of the selected technical solutions over the last two years.
“The cooperation and efforts by both parties has been materialized in the award of these contracts today. Taking this opportunity, DSIC will devote ourselves to delivery of these pioneering projects in a safe, high-quality and timely manner and assist Northern Lights on the ambitions of low carbon emission.”
Riqiang Hu

Northern Lights claims by enabling the first European full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain, this will pave the way for cost reduction and scale-up of similar future projects.

Northern Lights is the transport and storage component of Longship, the Norwegian government’s Nkr20 billion ($2.3 billion) full-scale carbon capture and storage project. Partners to the Northern Lights Joint Venture include Equinor, Shell and TotalEnergies.