Europe’s largest commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project has started operating at Yara’s Sluiskil ammonia and fertiliser plant in the Zeeland province of the Netherlands.
The facility is expected to capture and liquefy up to 800,000 tonnes of CO₂ a year from ammonia production, the European Commission announced on Monday.
The captured CO₂ will be shipped to Norway and permanently stored beneath the North Sea at the Northern Lights site.
CCS is a process that captures carbon dioxide from industrial activity and stores it underground to prevent it entering the atmosphere.
The Northern Lights facility is funded by the EU through the Connecting Europe Facility.
An inauguration ceremony in Sluiskil was attended by the European Commissioner for Climate, Net-Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Yara International President and CEO Svein Tore Holsether.
Cross-border project linked to EU — Norway agreement
The project was described as a result of the EU — Norway Green Alliance signed in 2023, according to the Commission.
The Sluiskil plant is expected to capture and store around 12 million tonnes of CO₂ over the next 15 years.
Hoekstra said in a keynote speech that “Europe needs practical climate solutions that deliver real emissions reductions while strengthening industrial competitiveness.”
