Microsoft has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SLB and Northern Lights Joint Venture (JV) to optimize integrated cloud-based workflows to assist in the operation of Northern Lights – a carbon dioxide transport and storage provider for cross-border carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Together, the collaboration will allow for the development of scalable and cost-efficient digital solutions for the emerging CCS industry.
Carbon capture and storage reduces or removes CO2 emissions while providing industrial emitters with realistic decarbonization opportunities. According to the International Energy Agency, reaching a net zero future will be virtually impossible without this service.
“Digital workflows 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.
Northern Lights JV was established by Equinor, TotalEnergies, and Shell to accelerate the decarbonization of the industry. According to the JV, the development of the transport and storage facilities in on schedule and will receive and store CO2 from industrial emitters starting in 2024.
Northern Lights will have an initial storage capacity of 1.5 million metric tons of CO2 per year, and the company has already entered into a commercial transport and storage agreement with Yara and Orsted.
To help further grow Northern Lights' storage capacity, during the initial phase of the collaboration, SLB will utilize its digital CCS workflows and numerical simulation systems on its Delfi digital platform to streamline the subsurface workflows of Northern Lights.
Microsoft will also deploy and extend its Microsoft Azure platform to provide scalable cloud services to further support Northern Lights' business and SLB's digital CCS workflows. Microsoft and SLB are currently collaborating on developing an Azure-compliant open-source data platfor to serve as the digital infrastructure for Northern Lights.
“In less than three 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 at 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.”
