BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 20. Equinor has secured the operatorships for developing two new CO2 storage sites in the North Sea, marking significant progress in transforming the Norwegian Continental Shelf into a leading CO2 storage hub in Europe, Trend reports.
On June 20, the Ministry of Energy announced the award of new CO2 storage licenses, granting Equinor operatorships and a 100-percent share in the Albondigas and Kinno sites. Each site is projected to store approximately 5 million tons of CO2 annually once operational, with capacity estimates to be refined during the exploration phase.
Equinor anticipates real base project returns of 4-8 percent in the early phase of its CO2 storage business, with potential for additional value as commercial markets develop.
The addition of the Albondigas and Kinno licenses aligns with Equinor’s ambitions to expand its CO2 storage capabilities in the North Sea over the coming years.
Equinor is also advancing a ship-based solution and a substantial pipeline, CO2 Highway Europe, which aims to transport 25-35 million tons of CO2 per year from industrial sources in Belgium and France to storage sites on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.