Norwegian state-owned oil and gas company Equinor has been awarded a permit for a carbon capture and storage project on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The Northern Lights project would store carbon dioxide transported by tankers coming from Oslo after being collected from three large industrial sites. The project is in conjunction with Shell and Total, and is currently in front end engineering design stage, which will help to estimate the cost of its construction and operation.

Another CCS project recently having been given a form of government approval is the Acorn project, which in December last year was awarded a carbon dioxide appraisal and storage licence, initially lasting four years. Acorn’s storage site is also offshore in the North Sea, around 100km north-east from Peterhead (Scotland), and 2 km deep, in the Captain sandstone formation. Total is also involved in the project, which has received support from the UK government and the European Commission.