Irish utility company Ervia (Dublin; www.ervia.ie) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Equinor ASA (Stavanger, Norway; www.equinor.com) on assessing the potential for Ireland to benefit from Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). CCS is a proven technology for capturing carbon emissions and storing them safely underground. This prevents the emissions from entering the atmosphere and causing climate change.
Equinor is a world leader in CCS technology, having successfully delivered projects in this area. The MOU describes how Ervia will work with Equinor and the Norwegian Government’s wider ‘Northern Lights’ project, which aims to drive CCS development across Europe. If successful, the project would see carbon emissions from Ireland’s electricity production and large industry captured and exported via ship to be permanently stored in Norway’s vast geological reserves in the North Sea. In addition to Ervia, other partners on the Northern Lights project include ArcelorMittal, Air Liquide, Shell and Total.
The MOU signing ceremony was presided over by Equinor CEO Eldar Sætre, with the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Kjell-Børge Freiberg, and European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, also in attendance.
Eldar Sætre stated “Carbon Capture and Storage will be vital to reach the global climate goals of the Paris Agreement”.
Cathal Marley, Interim CEO of Ervia, said “this MOU is a key step forward in Ireland playing a role in developing the potential of CCS technology, which has been recognized by the European Commission and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as being critical to the achievement of climate targets.”
Cathal Marley concludes, “We are very excited to be working with Equinor on this project, bringing Ireland to the center of Europe’s large-scale decarbonization. We are committed to maximizing the contribution of Ireland’s gas network – a €3bn asset owned by the Irish people – to building a sustainable, low carbon future.”