Vår Energi enters the Barents Sea Polaris CO2 storage joint partnership

Vår Energi has entered into a cooperation agreement with Equinor and Horisont Energi to develop the Polaris CO2 transportation and storage project in the Barents Sea. As part of the agreement Equinor takes over the operator role of the project.

Polaris is a key component in the development of the Barents Blue carbon neutral blue ammonia production facility, transporting captured CO2 from the ammonia plant and storing it in an underground reservoir in the Barents Sea. The concept being developed by the partnership will have an expected storage capacity of more than 100 million tons of CO2. The three companies are already cooperating on the Barents Blue ammonia plant being planned in Hammerfest, northern Norway.

Barents Blue and Polaris will serve as additional export capacity in the region opening further potential for bringing our natural gas resources in the area to the market, says Bjørn Thore Ribesen, VP Field Development and Projects in Vår Energi.

The partnership will mature the Barents Blue and Polaris towards a concept selection (DG2).

Vår Energi is the largest independent operator on the NCS, with decades of experience in the Barents Sea and extensive knowledge of the underground in the region. Equinor is our long-standing partner on the Norwegian Continental Shelf with solid experience from developing and operating CO2 storage and the Barents Sea region. By combining our strengths of the three partners, we are creating a robust platform for maturing the Polaris CO2 storage and the Barents Blue Ammonia projects, Ribesen continues.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is expected to play a fundamental role in reaching the targets set in the Paris agreement. The Barents Blue ammonia plant, which may comprise up to 3 production trains, will have a daily production capacity of 3,000 tonnes of blue ammonia per train when in operation. The plant aims to capture 99% of the CO2 from the natural gas feed and liquefied CO2 will be transported either by ship or pipeline for safe and permanent storage in the Polaris CO2 depositary.