On August 25, TotalEnergies and its partners Equinor and Shell confirmed that the first CO₂ shipment was successfully transported from Heidelberg Materials’ cement plant in Brevik to the receiving terminal at Øygarden, before being injected 2,600 meters beneath the seabed in a storage formation 100 km off Norway’s coast.

This achievement makes Northern Lights the world’s first merchant CO₂ transportation and storage system, offering an open-access service to European industry.

Phase 1 now live

Phase 1 provides storage capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. That capacity is already fully booked by customers across Norway and continental Europe, including Heidelberg Materials, Hafslund Celsio, Yara, Ørsted, and Stockholm Exergi.

The project’s first stage, sanctioned in 2020, involved the development of the Øygarden onshore terminal, a dedicated CO₂ shipping fleet, and a subsea pipeline to the Johansen Formation reservoir. EPC contracts were awarded to Aker Solutions for the onshore works and Subsea 7 for the subsea pipeline and installation, and drilling contractor Transocean for the CO₂ injection well.

While operators have not disclosed exact contract values, EPCIntel.com’s EPC contract database contains detailed entries of Phase 1 awards, including logged values, scopes, and award dates. These records provide suppliers and contractors with visibility into one of the first large-scale CCS EPC markets in Europe.

Phase 2 expansion

In March 2025, Northern Lights reached Final Investment Decision on Phase 2. This stage will expand storage capacity by another 3.5 million tonnes per year, bringing total capacity to more than 5 million tonnes annually by 2028.

Phase 2 will include expansion of the Øygarden terminal, a second jetty, additional CO₂ injection wells, and subsea tie-ins. Aker Solutions, Baker Hughes, Subsea7, and OneSubsea have already been awarded major contracts for this work.

According to EPCIntel.com’s EPC contract database, the EPC value of Phase 2 already exceeds USD 1.2 billion. This estimate is based on benchmarking against Phase 1 logged contract values and comparable CCS expansions in Europe and North America. Procurement opportunities will span civil works, subsea systems, cryogenic CO₂ handling equipment, compressors, pumps, and shipping.

A turning point for CCS

“With the start of operations of Northern Lights, we are entering a new phase for the CCS industry in Europe,” said Arnaud Le Foll, Senior Vice President New Business – Carbon Neutrality at TotalEnergies. “This industry now moves to reality, offering hard-to-abate sectors a credible and tangible way to reduce CO₂ emissions.”

Northern Lights is more than a storage project. By establishing CCS as a service, it lowers the entry cost for emitters in cement, steel, and chemicals. The successful start-up of Phase 1 and sanctioning of Phase 2 confirms growing demand for CO₂ storage capacity.

For EPC contractors, equipment suppliers, and service providers, this is a clear signal that CCS is moving beyond pilots into scalable infrastructure. EPCIntel.com’s database tracks not only Northern Lights but a growing portfolio of CCS projects across the globe.