SLB and Northern Lights Joint Venture (NL) announced today they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to optimise integrated cloud-based workflows for the operation of Northern Lights, one of the first CO2 transport and storage providers for cross-border carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The collaboration will contribute to the development of scalable and cost-efficient digital solutions for the emerging CCS industry.

“Digital workflows are a key component to successfully managing CO2 through the end-to-end value chain, from capture point to permanent storage.

“Northern Lights is very pleased to partner with industry leading tech companies, SLB and Microsoft, on the development of digital CCS solutions,” said Northern Lights Managing Director Børre Jacobsen.

In the initial phases of the collaboration, SLB will extend its digital CCS workflows and numerical simulation systems on its Delfi digital platform, which was deployed to streamline the subsurface workflows of Northern Lights in 2022.

SLB Senior VP of Digital Products and Solutions said: “In less than three decades, CCS must scale up by 100–200 times to have the expected impact on global net zero ambitions.

“Digital solutions have a key role to play in enabling the necessary speed and scale for CCS, and we are excited to work closely with Microsoft and the Northern Lights JV to facilitate the complex digitalisation of the CCS value chain.”

Microsoft will deploy and extend its Microsoft Azure platform to ensure scalable cloud services that support Northern Lights’ business and the SLB digital CCS workflows.

SLB and Microsoft are collaborating on the development of an Azure-compliant open-source data platform that will serve as the digital infrastructure for Northern Lights.

Microsoft Energy and Resources Industry CTO Sverre Brandsberg Dahl said: “We are confident this lighthouse project can help accelerate the CCS industry and the digital infrastructure that is needed to reach global climate goals.”

Carbon capture and storage enables the reduction or removal of CO2 emissions, providing industrial emitters with realistic decarbonisation opportunities.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), “reaching net zero will be virtually impossible without CCUS”.

The Northern Lights Joint Venture was established by Equinor, TotalEnergies and Shell to accelerate the decarbonisation of industry.

The development of the transport and storage facilities is on schedule and Northern Lights will be ready to receive and store CO2 from industrial emitters in 2024.

The first phase development has a storage capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes CO2 per year and the company has already entered into commercial transport and storage agreements with Yara and Ørsted.

Northern Lights has further growth ambitions and aims to expand its storage capacity according to market development.