Equinor Dishes out Northern Lights Contracts

Norway's Equinor has awarded two key contracts worth kroner 1.3bn ($150mn) for the Northern Lights CO₂ transport and storage project in the North Sea, the company reported on December 17, just days after Norway's parliament approved initial funding for the initiative.

Kvaerner has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for onshore plant facilities at Energiparken in Oygarden. The plant will receive and store liquid CO₂ before it is delivered via pipeline for injection under the seabed. The deal is worth kroner 1.05bn, Equinor said, with work due to run between January 2021 and the first quarter of 2024.

Kvaerner's parent company Aker Solutions meanwhile won a contract to deliver a subsea injection system for a CO₂ well in the North Sea, valued at kroner 250mn, with an option for equipment for additional wells. That work will also commence in January and wrap up in 2023.

Northern Lights serves as the transport and storage part of Longship, a kroner 25.1bn plan to store initially 1.5mn metric tons/year and eventually up to 5mn mt/yr of CO₂ emitted from industries in Norway and other European countries. Norway's parliament is expected to debate the project next year. They will then formally approve a plan of development, effectively taking a final investment decision on the scheme.

Equinor is developing Northern Lights alongside Shell and France's Total.