Baker Hughes (NYSE:BKR) announced on March 23rd that it is joining Horisont Energi AS for the development of the Polaris carbon storage project in Norway. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on the project. The agreement further enforces the companies’ own commitments to decarbonizing the energy industry.
With the deal, Baker Hughes and Horisont Energi aim to minimize the carbon footprint, cost, and delivery time of carbon capture, transport, and storage (CCTS). The project’s goal is to achieve the lowest carbon storage cost globally. It paves the way for profitable CCTS facilities, not reliant on government support schemes.
Baker Hughes Carbon Capture Deal
“We are proud to be partnering with Horisont Energi for new energy frontiers, taking the Polaris carbon storage project from concept to reality,” said Uwem Ukpong, the executive vice president of regions, alliances, and enterprise sales at Baker Hughes.
“With Baker Hughes, we will scale solutions across the carbon value chain to accelerate the decarbonization of the energy industry. Our complementary competencies allow for a strategic partnership for scalable, energy-efficient, and flexible technology solutions,” added CEO of Horisont Energi, Mr. Eidesen.
The Polaris project is part of Horisont Energi’s Barents Blue project. That is the first global and full-scale carbon neutral “blue” ammonia production plant. The Polaris project is expected to have 100 million tons of carbon capacity storage. That equals twice Norway’s annual GHG emissions. The facility is currently а concept. However, it is expected to enter the construction phase in the second half of 2022.
Apart from working together on the Polaris offshore carbon storage facility, Baker Hughes and Horisont Energi will also collaborate on the development of processes and technologies across the carbon capture value chain. Some of them include decreasing CO2 impact in the well construction and subsea segments and high-efficiency turbomachinery technology.
Baker Hughes deal with Horisont Energi reveals an important milestone for the optimization of portfolio of CCS technologies. The ultimate goal of the partnership is take advantage of the developing commercial carbon storage market in Europe.
Various other companies from the oil industry are also focusing more of their attention on carbon capture, with Exxon leading the way with a proposed $3 billion investment in carbon capture projects.
