Today the first pile was officially driven for Yara’s CCS project in Sluiskil. From 2026, this project will result in a CO2 reduction of 12 million tons of CO2. The factory to liquefy CO2 is being built by Linde. It is the largest in the world and requires an investment of 194 million euros.
The liquid CO2 is brought to Norway from Sluiskil by two ships per week by Northern Lights to be permanently stored in the seabed. Yara is the first company to invest on a large scale in CO2 reduction within the so-called Custom Agreements. The company indicates that the project is not only important with a view to the production of blue hydrogen, but also because of the fact that CO2 is transported cross-border on a large scale.
Buffering hydrogen supply
The project underlines the confidence of the Norwegian parent company in the Zeeland location. The CCS project allows Yara to produce blue hydrogen, ammonia and low-carbon fertilizers. The hydrogen can also be supplied to the hydrogen network. To this end, Yara has patented an adjustment to the ammonia factories. This allows the company to buffer the hydrogen supply.
From 2026, Northern Lights will transport and store 800,000 tonnes of CO2 from its ammonia plants annually. For Northern Lights, this is one of the first commercial contracts in Europe. Yara sees CCS as an indispensable temporary technology to reduce CO2 quickly and effectively. With this project, Yara can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to one million tons, compared to 5.4 million in 1990.
The 800,000 tons of CO2 that Yara will supply to Northern Lights annually is part of the total amount of 2.2 million tons of pure CO2 that Yara produces in Sluiskil. 1.4 million tons are used as raw material or sold directly. The remaining part will be transported by ship to Øygarden in Norway from early 2026 to be permanently stored in the seabed.
Cross-border CO2 transport
During King Willem-Alexander’s State Visit to Norway in 2021, agreements were made to investigate cross-border CO2 transport. On April 15 this year, Energy Ministers of countries around the North Sea signed to make this actually possible. Yara is the first company to supply CO2 cross-border, paving the way for other countries and companies around the North Sea to store CO2 abroad.