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GAC has signed a formal agreement to support the Northern Lights Joint Venture, part of the Norwegian Government’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative, Longship.
The Northern Lights JV is the first to offer commercial CCS services to help reduce and remove industrial emissions in Europe and is a registered, incorporated General Partnership with Shared Liability (DA) owned by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell. Captured liquefied CO₂ is shipped to an onshore receiving terminal at Øygarden, West Norway, from where it is transported by pipeline for permanent storage in a reservoir 2,600 metres under the seabed. Five companies from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden have already signed up for the service.
GAC has now formally signed an agreement under which it will provide agency, customs clearance and data integration services in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands for the vessels bringing captured liquefied CO₂ to the receiving terminal at Øygarden connected by submarine pipelines to offshore storage wells. More countries may be added.
Early involvement
GAC’s involvement in the initiative goes back much further. In 2019, our team in Norway was approached to provide insights into the country’s maritime regulations, particularly in relation to pilotage requirements and potential exemptions for liquefied CO₂ (LCO₂) carriers.
Farzad Zaker, Northern Lights JV Shipping Operations Manager, says: “We’re pleased to work with GAC as our trusted agent. Northern Lights JV looks forward to a smooth collaboration and a strong working relationship going forward.”
Last year, we signed a global husbandry agreement with K Line LNG, the company managing the first two LCO₂ tankers – the Northern Pioneer and Northern Pathfinder – being built in China to transport captured liquefied CO₂ from emitters in Europe to the Northern Lights JV terminal. The GAC team in China took care of their outbound clearance from Dalian, and offices and agents from our global network took care of bunker calls in Singapore, Port Louis (Mauritius), Walvis Bay (Namibia), Las Palmas (Spain), Sluiskil (Netherlands) and Kalundborg (Denmark) en route to Norway. We also worked with Northern Lights JV to arrange the naming ceremony for Northern Pioneer once it arrived in Stavanger.
Kristoffer Wold, K Line Energy Shipping (UK)’s Deputy General Manager – Carbon Neutral Development Group, says: “We chose GAC for their proven expertise, responsiveness and understanding of the operational needs of the LCO₂ segment. Their commitment to reliability and partnership is exactly what we look for in a ship agent.”
Once fully operational, the Northen Lights JV is expected to generate up to 500 port calls annually, with GAC providing comprehensive support at all involved ports. The first phase aims to store up to 1.5 million tonnes of CO₂ annually by mid-2025, with potential expansion to 5 million tonnes by 2028.
Learning journey
“The Northern Lights initiative represents an important next step in Europe’s efforts to prevent CO₂ being released into the atmosphere,” says Ahmet Øzsoy, GAC’s Managing Director in Norway.
“Our deep involvement with this groundbreaking project has been a powerful learning journey which has armed us with invaluable experience in carbon capture logistics, international maritime regulations and sustainable shipping solutions. These will stand us in good stead to support other projects following the Northern Lights JV’s lead.”