Industrial Decarbonization
Yara commissions 800,000-tonne CCS unit at Sluiskil, ships CO2 to Northern Lights
Yara opened an 800,000-tonne/year CCS unit at Sluiskil, Netherlands on Sept. 20, anchoring Europe's largest industrial carbon capture facility to Northern Lights' subsea storage under a 15-year, 12-million-tonne contract.
Waypoints
Yara commissioned Europe's largest industrial CCS facility — 800,000 tonnes per year — at its Sluiskil, Netherlands ammonia-fertilizer complex on Sept. 20, 2026.
The 15-year offtake agreement commits 12 million tonnes of CO2 to Northern Lights' subsea reservoir 2,600 metres below the seabed.
Northern Lights currently injects 1.5 million tonnes per year and is expanding to 5 million tonnes per year.
Yara's annual capture equals roughly 0.5% of total Dutch greenhouse gas emissions, against a 2025 global fossil CO2 total above 42 billion tonnes.
China's Huaneng Longdong CCS at a 1 GW Gansu coal plant captures 1.5 million tonnes per year, above Yara's throughput.
Yara International ASA has cut the ribbon on Europe's largest industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility — an 800,000-tonne-per-year unit bolted onto the company's ammonia and fertilizer complex in Sluiskil, the Netherlands. The unit feeds into a subsea storage chain run by Norwegian CO2 transport firm Northern Lights, framing a 15-year, 12-million-tonne geological containment commitment announced this month.
What does the unit capture?
The Sluiskil stack targets CO2 from ammonia production — the largest single process-emission source at the complex. The capture process liquefies the CO2, holds it in on-site white tanks, then transports it aboard Northern Lights' carriers across the North Sea. Northern Lights then injects the gas into a saline aquifer 2,600 metres (8,530 ft) below the seabed.
How does the throughput compare with national totals?
The 800,000-tonne annual figure equals roughly 0.5% of total Dutch greenhouse gas output, per data cited in Yara's inauguration material. Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion topped 42 billion tonnes in 2025, according to the Global Carbon Budget.
What is Northern Lights' buildout?
Northern Lights opened the Norwegian receiving terminal with 1.5 million tonnes per year of injection capacity. The operator has begun an expansion to 5 million tonnes per year to serve a queue of European industrial emitters. Yara Sluiskil is among the opening customers. Yara's corporate release states the project is expected to store about 12 million tons of CO2 over the next 15 years — absorbing roughly half of Northern Lights' current nameplate capacity through one anchor contract.
Where does Europe sit globally?
China's Huaneng Longdong Energy Base CCS, retrofitted to a 1 GW coal-fired unit in Gansu Province, captures 1.5 million tonnes per year — nearly double Sluiskil's throughput. Yara's facility holds the European industrial-process lead; no Dutch or EU peer operates above 800,000 tonnes annual capacity at present.
Which other sectors can follow?
Cement, steel, chemicals and fertilizer production generate the bulk of unavoidable process CO2 across the EU. Northern Lights' expansion lift to 5 Mt/year frees roughly 3.5 Mt of new injection capacity for those sectors. Under the EU Emissions Trading System, permanent geological storage counts as a compliance pathway, so the relative price of EU ETS allowances against CCS operating cost will shape offtake velocity.
What happens next?
The first operating test for Yara is sustaining the Sluiskil capture rate through calendar year 2027 — a load-factor threshold tied to Dutch SDE++ subsidy disbursement. The next commercial test is Northern Lights' second expansion phase, which targets injection capacity above 5 Mt/year toward 7.5 Mt/year by 2030, contingent on binding offtake from additional European emitters.
via newatlas.com (Original)