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with CO2, and with that the plan is to build a plant on Horisont Energi also said it would invite new partners the coast in Norway's north near the offshore reservoir and into the Polaris CO2 storage license, including a quali?ed pump the CO2 via a pipeline into the reservoir. operator. “A new license group will bring the project for-

Once the project comes closer to reality, the plan is to ward to a submission of plan for development. The chang- have separate entities for ammonia production and for es in the license group will be coordinated with relevant

CO2 storage, with the company expected to receive in- authorities," the company said on February 1.

come streams from both.

The company is hoping that some of the Norwegian off- Why pay to store CO2?

shore gas ?elds in the vicinity of the future ammonia plant In the current political climate, multiple industries face in Finnmark, in northern Norway, could provide feedstock escalating costs for carbon emissions, so securing CO2 for the plant. storage at ?xed costs is a hedge.

Speci?cally, the plan is for the onshore facility to con- “In the current European industrial system, you have vert natural gas from the Barents South region to carbon- a mechanism for pricing CO2 emissions,“ said Eidesen. neutral blue ammonia (99% CO2 capture rate), dubbed “We have the Emission Trading System (ETS) which im- an easily transportable hydrogen carrier. poses a fee for emitting CO2,“ a price which currently has

The produced blue ammonia can then be used directly as been between 80 and 100 euros per ton of CO2.

ammonia, but can also be converted to hydrogen at the des- Eidesen said the price is forecast to be between 150- 170 tination. Horisont has said that the plant is planned to have euros per ton of CO2 in 2030. “So you can say this repre- a production capacity of 3000 tons of ammonia per day sents a ?nancial risk to emitters of CO2, that they cannot “making it one of the largest ammonia plants in the world.“ control what the cost will be.“

According to Eidesen, storing CO2 in, say, Errai, puts a

Vår Energi & Equinor Pull Out; Fertiberia is 'In' cap on how high the price can go, providing some degree

Back in December 2021, announcing the pact with Vår of ?nancial certainty.

Energi and Equinor for the Polaris CO2 storage develop- In addition to cost, Eidesen said there are other drivers. ment, Horisont Energi said that an investment decision “Other customers are motivated by the fact that they want for Polaris and the Barents Blue project was expected to be to deliver carbon-neutral products to their customers. reached around year-end 2022. Their customers demand decarbonized value chains. They

However, on the morning on February 1, 2023, a day can get more value for the product if it's decarbonized.“ after our interview with Eidesen in Italy, Equinor and Vår In November 2022, Horisont Energi also signed a letter

Energi issued press releases announcing their withdrawal of intent with E.ON, for the latter to store more than one from the project. Simultaneously, Horisont Energi issued a million of CO2 a year from its European customer sites. statement welcoming a new partner to the project: Spanish This would take effect starting from 2027, with gradual ammonia producer Fertiberia. increase. Horisont Energi will provide services on CO2

While some described the withdrawal of Vår Energi and marine transport and long-term storage.

Equinor as a setback for the project, Equinor said it was Horisont Energi plans to store four to eight million tons still “positive“ about ?nding ways to get gas from Ham- of CO2 annually in the ?rst development phase of the Er- merfest LNG to the Barents Blue project. rai project, potentially storing more in later phases.

Vår Energi, which had planned to export gas resources Asked about the Errai capacity, Eidesen said “We have es- discovered in Alke and Goliat ?elds, west of Hammerfest, timated the P90 to 185 million tons of storage capacity. So via a tie-in to the Barents Blue project, said it would seek it's bigger than Polaris in the respective case for the P90.“ other solutions, as “development of the proven resources in Horisont Energi in January signed an option agreement the region, including Goliat, Alke and Lupa, will require an with Haugaland Næringspark to locate the land- based export solution with greater capacity than what we deem CO2 terminal for the Errai carbon capture and stor- realistic within the scope of the [Barents Blue] project.“ age project to Gismarvik in Rogaland, where Haugaland

In a statement announcing the partnership changes, Næringspark has one of Norway’s largest industrial areas.

Eidesen praised Vår Energi and Equinor for having been The CO2 terminal will receive CO2 from European and “instrumental in maturing the project in the development Norwegian customers, including the planned CO2 termi- phase ending January 31.“ nal in the Port of Rotterdam.

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