September saw further progress in the carbon capture space as Norway and Finland agreed to cooperate on the capture, cross-border transport and storage of CO2 emissions.
The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) during an informal meeting of energy ministers in Copenhagen on 4th September.
The agreement represents a significant development in the two countries’ energy partnership, as it will facilitate the capture of CO2 in Finland, which will then be transported to Norway for permanent storage under the seabed.
The Finnish government supports ‘technological carbon sinks,’ which refers to projects which permanently store CO2 captured from industrial sites, but the country lacks its own natural storage sites for CO2.
By contrast, Norway has extensive offshore geological storage capacity as well as the engineering infrastructure and experience to handle the transport and storage of the gas at scale. The country also sees commercial storage of CO2 as a service and a market opportunity.
Both countries agreed to report their cross-border CCS operations and related CO2 emissions within the context of their national greenhouse gas inventories, in accordance with guidelines under the Intergovernmental Panel and Climate Change (IPCC) as well as under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Monitoring and reporting of emissions will come under relevant EU/EEA legislation, according to the agreement.
The CCS deal between Norway and Finland comes in the context of the 2015 Paris Agreement, under which both countries have set emissions reduction goals for 2030 and beyond, as well as the London Protocol, which provides an international legal framework for the sub-seabed geological storage of captured CO2.
As countries come under increasing pressure to set ever more ambitious climate targets, CCS will become more important as a way to reduce CO2 emissions entering into the atmosphere while enabling economic growth.
Norway’s industrial assurance and risk management provider DNV said global carbon capture and storage capacity is set to quadruple by 2030, although it warned that shifting policy signals and underinvestment could stall progress and widen the gap between CCS forecasts and what’s ultimately required for large-scale decarbonisation.
The Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), Europe’s leading industry association promoting carbon capture, has said CCS is vital to enable the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050 while safeguarding industrial jobs in sectors such as steel, cement, chemicals and refining.
Some of the CO2 captured in CCS plants can be used to produce a variety of products, such as building materials, chemical products, and in food and drink production. However, the vast bulk of captured CO2 will need to be transported by ship or pipeline and injected into underground facilities such as depleted oil and gas wells, for permanent storage, the CCSA said.
At the global level, 11 new countries have registered CCS facilities in various states of development since 2022, according to the Global CCS Institute. The US has the largest share with 73 new facilities entering the pipeline in 2023, while Australia overtook the Netherlands to join the UK, Canada and China to enter into the top five countries for CCS deployment.
The latest agreement between Norway and Finland can be taken as a sign that both countries expect CCS to play a more important role as pressure grows to limit emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere while preserving jobs in major industrial sectors.To learn more about emissions avoidance and removals, check out this graphic: Emissions Avoidance & Removals Projects – Carbonwise, and our ‘bathtub’ video here: The Bathtub Analogy: The Importance of Carbon Reductions & Removals – Carbonwise.
