World’s largest test facility for CO2 transport opened by Norwegian Prime Minister

Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg has opened the world’s largest CO₂ transport test facility in Porsgrunn, Norway. The object is to learn more about how CO₂ in both gas and liquid form behaves during pipeline transport, which will help to scale up CO₂ transport and storage in the future.

‘The work you do here is an important contribution to the government’s strategy for carbon capture and storage (CCS),’ said Solberg said when she officially opened the test facility on 30 October 2020.

Equinor has transported CO₂ from the Sleipner field in gas form in the North Sea since 1996 and in liquid form from the Snøhvit facility in Hammerfest since 2009, both projects providing Equinor with important information about CO₂ transport.

Now Equinor and its partners Total, Gassnova and Gassco have modified the facility to study transport of CO₂ as gas and liquid form simultaneously. ‘This could yield knowledge that is important for determining where a pipeline route could be laid, and which reservoirs could be utilised. Testing and research can improve operation of the CO₂ transport and storage project Northern Lights and can also reduce the costs associated with this new industry in the future,’ says Equinor.

The test facility has a 200-metre pipe run and is the world’s largest test facility for CO₂ transport. ‘This shows how infrastructure and competence from the oil and gas industry can be used to accelerate efforts to capture CO₂ and store it in a reservoir. This is an opportunity to create a new industry in Norway,’ says Sophie Hildebrand, Chief Technology Officer, Equinor. The plan is initially to use the test facility for two different CO₂ transport tests, both tests of multiphase transport and measurement instruments. According to the plan, these tests will be under way until the spring of 2021. After that, the facility will be used to test the transport of oil, gas and CO₂.