Losing steam
Europe's carbon capture and storage ambitions are starting to flag
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Thursday 18th June marked the one year anniversary since the worlds first industrial scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility was inaugurated. More than 300 guests attended the opening ceremony at Heidelberg Materials Brevik CCS facility last June, including the Crown Prince of Norway.
The plan was to capture around half of the cement plants emissions, equivalent to 400 kt CO2 per annum. The CO2 would then be shipping in specialised vessels (part of the Northern Lights CO2 transport and storage network) to a location 60 miles off the west coast of Norway. From here it would be permanently sequestered 1.6 miles beneath the North Sea (see Northern Lights the way: Europe's CO2 network is being bult in the North Sea, but for now it remains fragile).
However, according to recent media reports, only 105 kt CO2 has been captured and sequestered over the past twelve months. Although it's natural for a new project to experience a gradual ramp up in capacity, the article suggests that the peak occurred in late summer 2025, shortly after operations began. Heidelberg Materials continues to maintain that 400 kt CO2 per year is captured by the facility.
