SLB, Microsoft Team With Northern Lights on Digitalization for CCS

SLB and the Northern Lights joint venture have signed a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft to work on integrated cloud-based work flows for the operation of Northern Lights, one of the first CO₂ transport and storage providers for cross-border carbon capture and storage (CCS).

“Digital work flows 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 Børre Jacobsen, managing director of Northern Lights.

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

“In less than 3 decades, CCS must scale up by 100–200 times to have the expected impact on global net-zero ambitions,” said Trygve Randen, senior vice president of digital products and solutions for SLB. “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 digitalization of the CCS value chain.”

For its part, 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 is thrilled to partner closely with SLB and Northern Lights to drive tangible CO₂ reductions at scale in 2024 and beyond. We are confident this lighthouse project can help accelerate the CCS industry and the digital infrastructure that is needed to reach global climate goals,” said Sverre Brandsberg Dahl, energy and resources industry chief technology officer for Microsoft.

Northern Lights Joint Venture was established by Equinor, TotalEnergies, and Shell to accelerate the decarbonization of industry. The development of the transport and storage facilities is on schedule, and Northern Lights is expected to be ready to receive and store CO₂ from industrial emitters in 2024. The first phase development has a storage capacity of 1.5 million tonnes of 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.