The Netherlands – Today the first pile was officially driven for Yara’s CCS project in Sluiskil. Starting in 2026, this project will provide a CO2 reduction of 12 million tons of CO2. The plant 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 will be transported by Northern Lights from Sluiskil to Norway by two ships a week for permanent storage in the seabed. Yara is the first company to invest on a large scale in CO2 reduction within the so-called Maatwerkafraken. The company says the project is important not only in view of the production of blue hydrogen, but also because of the fact that CO2 is transported across borders on a large scale.

Buffering hydrogen supply

The project endorses the Norwegian parent company’s confidence in the Zeeland location. With the CCS project, Yara can produce blue hydrogen, ammonia and low-carbon fertilizers. The hydrogen can also be delivered to the hydrogen network. To this end, Yara has patented a modification to its ammonia plants. This allows the company to buffer the hydrogen supply.

Starting in 2026, Northern Lights will transport and store 800,000 tons of CO2 annually from ammonia plants. 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. This project will allow Yara to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to one million tons from 5.4 million in 1990.

The 800,000 tons of CO2 Yara will supply to Northern Lights annually is part of the total 2.2 million tons of pure CO2 Yara makes in Sluiskil. 1.4 million tons will be used as feedstock or sold directly. The remainder will be transported by ship to Norway’s Øygarden for permanent storage in the seabed starting in early 2026.

Cross-border CO2 transport

During King Willem-Alexander’s 2021 state visit to Norway, agreements were made to explore cross-border CO2 transport. On April 15 this year, Energy Ministers from countries around the North Sea put their signatures to make this actually possible. Yara will be the first company to supply CO2 across borders, paving the way for other countries and companies around the North Sea to start storing CO2 abroad.

Photo: Patrick Schelstraete