Fertilizer maker Yara said on Monday it has signed a binding agreement to capture CO2 emissions from its Dutch ammonia plant and transport it to the Norwegian North Sea for storage deep beneath the seabed.
The carbon capture and storage project (CCS) will cut annual emissions of CO2 by 800,000 tonnes over a 15 year period, the Norwegian company said in a statement.
When the operation begins in 2025, it is expected to be the first time that CO2 from one nation is transported across borders for storage by another, Yara said.
The CO2 will be liquefied and shipped by Northern Lights, a company owned by Equinor EQNR.OL, TotalEnergies, and Shell, from the Sluiskil plant to permanent storage on Norway's continental shelf, 2.6 km (1.6 miles) under the seabed.
"This is a milestone for decarbonizing hard-to-abate industry in Europe and for Yara it's an important step towards decarbonizing our ammonia production, product lines, and the food value chain at large," Yara CEO Svein Tore Holsether said.
(Reuters - Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Essi Lehto)