The Northern Pioneer – billed as the world’s first commercial liquefied CO2 transport ship – has officially arrived in Norway to serve the Northern Lights project.
The 130m-long ship, which can transport 8,000 tonnes of liquefied CO2, will be ready for operations this year. With its arrival, Northern Lights said the ‘final piece’ of its value chain has fallen into place.
“This marks another significant milestone in building the world’s largest dedicated CO2 shipping fleet and demonstrates Northern Lights’ commitment to building a reliable value chain to support Europe’s decarbonisation goals,” said Tim Heijn, Managing Director of Northern Lights JV, which is owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell.
Northern Pioneer received blessings from her ‘godmother’ Tina Bru – a Stavanger citizen and former Minister of Petroleum and Energy when the Longship project was proposed to the Norwegian Parliament in 2019.
The ship, which was delivered in November this year, will play a crucial role in safely transporting liquefied CO2 from industrial capture sites in Europe to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Øygarden, Norway.
The ship is the first in line of four sister ships that are custom designed for CO2 transport. It will be registered in Norway and managed by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K line). Next stop for the Northern Pioneer is the CO2 receiving facilities in Øygarden for commissioning.
Northern Lights offers CO2 transport and storage as a service and its mission is to enable the reduction and removal of European industrial emissions.
Liquefied CO2 from capture sites will be shipped to an onshore receiving terminal in western Norway, before transported by pipeline for permanent storage in a reservoir 2,600m under the seabed.
The three partners completed CO2 receiving and storage facilities in Øygarden in September.
Read more: Northern Lights CO2 storage facility launches in Norway
Developing CO2 transportation and storage services is one of the necessary levers to reduce emissions and a realistic decarbonisation solution for European industry.
The first phase, supported by the Norwegian government, has a capacity of 1.5 Mt CO2/year, which has been fully booked by customers in Norway and Continental Europe. Studies are under way for a capacity expansion to more than 5 Mt CO2/y in a second phase.
Northern Pioneer facts and figures
• Cargo tank capacity: 7,500cbm
• Overall length: 130m
• Breadth: 21m
• Cargo transport conditions: maximum pressure of 19 bar(g) pressure and minimum temperature of -35°C
• Primary fuel: LNG
• Low-carbon technologies: Wind-assisted rotor sail and air lubrication
