TotalEnergies grows CCS portfolio with new stake in Norwegian project

French petroleum company TotalEnergies has secured 40% participating interest in a Norwegian carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which has CO2 storage injection capacity of up to five million tonnes per year.

TotalEnergies signed the CCS stake agreement with Norway’s CapeOmega Carbon Storage AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapeOmega AS, to acquire their interest in the CO2 storage exploration license ExL004, otherwise known as the Luna project.

Located 120km offshore of Bergen in 200m water depth, ExL004 covers an area of 453km2.

The license is estimated to hold a CO2 storage injection capacity of up to five million tonnes per year, with the majority 60% of participating stake held by German crude oil and natural gas producer Wintershall Dea.

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Commenting on the project was Arnaud Le Foll, TotalEnergies senior vice-president of new business – carbon neutrality, who called the transaction “an important milestone to grow our CO2 storage offering: subject to a successful exploration, this area could enable the storage of several hundred million tons of CO2 from hard-to-abate industries in Europe.”

According to CapeOmega, the stake sale is part of the company’s portfolio optimisation, following recent announcement by the Norwegian state to nationalise ownership of the country’s gas infrastructure.

The Luna project is adjacent to the license where the Northern Lights CO2 storage project is under development. TotalEnergies holds 33% stake and a first phase is due to start in 2024.

Added Le Foll: “With the Northern Lights start-up in 2024 and other projects under development in the Netherlands, Denmark and the UK, TotalEnergies is building a world-class carbon storage portfolio across the North Sea. Norway will play a leading role in this portfolio thanks to its large geological storages and supportive government policies.”

Project Luna is operated by Wintershall and forms part of a strategic Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) partnership between Wintershall and Norwegian energy company Equinor to develop a CCS value chain.

Through the value chain, CO2 is planned to be captured at industrial emitters in Germany and transported from Wilhelmshaven on the German coast to the storage sites in Norway – initially by ship and later by pipeline.

Between 20 and 40 million tonnes of CO2 could then be transported each year, states Wintershall, which corresponds to about a quarter of Germany’s total industrial emissions.

Project Luna is one of the first two licenses as part of Wintershall’s planned value chain; the other is that of project Havstjerne, located 135km southwest of Stavanger. Wintershall operates the project with 50% share and Bermuda-based energy company Altera Infrastructure as partner.

The estimated storage capacity from Havstjerne is around seven million tonnes of CO2 per year.

According to Wintershall, the Luna and Havstjerne CCS licences will be important connectors for European heavy industry with Norwegian North Sea basins capable of storing carbon emissions.

While Germany is the largest emitter of CO2 in Europe, Norway has the largest storage potential for CO2, they add.

The announcement of TotalEnergies’ participation in the CCS project follows a growing interest in CCUS technology.

Earlier in August, the Porthos carbon transport and storage project in the Netherlands announced approval for permitting, final investment decision and for construction to begin in early 2024.

Porthos will store around 37 Mton CO2, approximately 2.5 Mton CO2 per year for 15 years and has been declared a European Project of Common Interest.