The Barents Blue concept is to make ammonia from natural gas from the Barents Sea, capture the CO₂ and store it under the seabed.

The Polaris CO₂ storage under the Barents Sea was selected as the CO₂storage solution for the Barents Blue project, and it has had the same partners as for the Barents Blue project.

Consequently, Equinor has also concluded to not take further part in the Polaris CO₂ storage project.

“We are pleased to see that Horisont Energi will continue to mature the Barents Blue project with a new partner and build on the progress and experiences from our partnership. I wish to thank the Barents Blue operator Horisont Energi and our partner Vår Energi for the collaboration we have had in the project”, says Grete Tveit, senior vice president Low carbon solutions, in Equinor.

Equinor remains positive to explore gas supply solutions from Hammerfest LNG to the Barents Blue project following the changes in the partnership.

Equinor has several hydrogen and CCS projects in different phases in Norway and in other markets. In Norway, the Northern Lights CO₂ transport and storage project, part of the Longship project, is already under construction and on track to be ready to receive CO₂ in 2024.

Recently, Equinor and RWE announced that the companies have agreed to work together to develop large-scale value chains for low carbon hydrogen, with a production facility in Norway and an export pipeline to Germany.

By 2030, Equinor has an ambition that 50 per cent of the company’s gross investments will be dedicated to renewables and low carbon solutions, such as CCS and hydrogen.