What is it? Billed as a ‘game changer’ for carbon dioxide (CO2) transport and storage in Northwestern Europe, the Carbon Dioxide Highway Europe (CO2HE) project from Equinor plans to connect Smeaheia and other CO2 reservoirs on the Norwegian continental shelf to Northwestern European emitters via a 36-inch diameter offshore pipeline of 1,035 km.
Where will CO2E pass? It’s a truly pan-European undertaking, with the pipeline crossing Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The project contributes to the EU2NSEA, a project of common interest under the EU TEN-E regulation, where Equinor acts as coordinator.
What are the targets? 18 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity in phase 1 with potential for increase to 27 mtpa in phase 2.
Where will be the key connection points? The main export terminals will be Zeebrugge and Dunkirk, with flexibility for additional locations in the Netherlands and across Europe.
When will it be ready? The target is 2030 but Equinor says an investment decision is dependent “on sufficient customer commitment”.
What are the challenges? Leaving aside the sheer scale and maritime engineering complexities, the biggest challenges for CO2HE relate to integrity, flow assurance, capital and operating costs, plus health, safety and environmental factors. But pipelines do have some advantages over other means of transport, such as trucks, rail, and ships.
Transporting CO2 in the supercritical (dense) phase makes it particularly sensitive to steep elevations and impurities. This not only impacts the repressurisation distance but also fluid dynamics and thermodynamic behaviour of the CO2 stream, according to Science Direct.
What has happened so far? In 2024, an offshore pipeline routing survey was performed. A total area of 386,022sq km was covered in the geophysical survey. In addition to Smeaheia, Equinor has been awarded two other storage licences, at Kinno and Albondigas, which can provide additional storage capacity in future.
How much is riding on CO2E’s success? Safe capture and storage of CO2 is a prerequisite and enabler for developing blue hydrogen and ammonia from natural gas. With carbon capture and storage (CCS), blue hydrogen and ammonia can help reduce emissions from the use of natural gas, ensuring access to large amounts of low-carbon, reliable energy. With CCS, emissions can also be significantly reduced from gas-fired power plants.
Hear more about the carbon dioxide value chain at the gasworld Rotterdam CO2 Summit between March 17 and 19. Click here for more details
