Aker BP and Höegh Evi have secured EU funding of EUR223 million (US$250.2 million) for their planned Atlas Project, a carbon capture and storage (CCS) network that would transport CO₂ emitted by industries in Europe for permanent subsurface storage in the Norwegian North Sea.

The proposed development would combine regional CO₂ aggregation with large-scale low-pressure maritime transport and offshore storage.

CO₂ would be sent to regional export hubs close to industrial clusters, then transported by dedicated carrier vessels to the Atlas offshore storage site in the Aker BP-operated EXL011 permit. ORLEN Upstream Norway is the other partner.

The CO₂ would be injected through subsea infrastructure into a saline aquifer more than 2,000 m below the seabed.

Atlas is designed to initially receive 6 MMmt/year of CO₂, potentially rising to above 10 MMmt as the European CCS market develops. 

At present, the project is in the Select phase, with final investment decision (FID) targeted in 2028 and first injection from 2031.

“Atlas demonstrates how regional aggregation and large-scale low-pressure shipping can efficiently connect industrial regions to permanent CO₂ storage," said Nils Jakob Hasle, EVP of Clean Energy at Höegh Evi. “This flexible maritime model can expand as the European CCS market develops.” 

Subject to FID, the EU Innovation Fund award of EUR223 million will support the implementation of the Atlas cross-border CO₂ transport and storage network.