BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 17. Equinor, in collaboration with GRTgaz, France's gas transmission operator, has signed a Project Development Agreement (PDA) to establish a CO2 transport system, Trend reports.
According to Equinor, this initiative aims to transport captured CO2 from industrial sources in France to offshore storage sites in Norway through the CO2 Highway Europe pipeline project.
The project will involve the development of an onshore CO2 pipeline network by GRTgaz, spanning approximately 30 km in the Dunkirk industrial area of France. This network will integrate with Equinor's CO2 Highway Europe, which extends from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to various seabed storage sites off Norway's coast.
Focused on decarbonizing the Dunkirk industrial hub, responsible for about 20 percent of France's industrial CO2 emissions, the initial phase will handle 3 to 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually. Future expansions aim to include CO2 from other industrial clusters across France.
Equinor and GRTgaz will collaborate on network planning, technical design, safety protocols, regulatory compliance, and institutional relations. Feasibility studies are currently ongoing, with basic engineering set to commence by late 2024 and operations targeted for commissioning by 2029.