Polish multi-utility company Orlen has signed an agreement with Norway’s Horisont Energi AS to cooperate on the Polaris field, one of the most advanced carbon dioxide storage projects under the Barents Sea on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The value of the investment will be up to US$1bn.

Orlen’s 2030 strategy envisages that by the end of the decade, the company will have the capacity to sequester, i.e. capture and store or manage 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year. This potential will be used to reduce its own emissions and provide carbon management services to external companies.

Orlen Group has taken a major step towards introducing such a service by signing a letter of intent with the Norwegian company Horisont Energi, established in Sandnes in 2019, to build subsea CO2 storage facilities.

Horisont Energi AS owns the concession in the Polaris field, located in the Barents Sea, 100 km off the Finnmark coast in northern Norway, where a well has already been drilled confirming the possibility of safe CO2 injection. The capacity of the deposit is estimated at a total of about 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which will enable storage operations for 12-25 years.

CO2 sequestration is one of the solutions that will allow the corporation to reduce emissions associated with the operations of its refineries and petrochemical and upstream facilities by 25 % (i.e. by 4 million tonnes) to approximately 13 million tonnes by the end of 2030. The possibility of storing CO2 in underground reservoirs under the seabed may be the most efficient way to reduce the costs associated with purchasing carbon allowances.

“The experience we want to gather off the coast of Norway will also be used in Poland. They will allow us to effectively implement proven and safe technologies and prepare a competitive offer for the Polish industry”, says Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński