The Yara Sluiskil plant, the largest commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Europe has started its operations in Sluikil, a village in the Zeeland province of the Netherlands.
The CO2 will be transported by ship and permanently stored under the Norwegian North Sea at the Northern Lights facility, funded by the EU under the Connecting Europe Facility. The industrial ammonia and fertiliser facility is expected to capture and liquefy up to 800 000 tons of CO₂ annually from ammonia production.
This cross-border project is a direct result of the EU-Norway Green Alliance signed in 2023 – a powerful example of the benefits of European cooperation, combining private investment and public support and bringing together industry, the EU, its Member States, and Norway. Today’s inauguration ceremony, attended by Commissioner for Climate, Net-Zero and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra, reflected this partnership with the presence of Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and President and CEO of Yara International, Svein Tore Holsether.
Yara’s Sluiskil plant is a strategic investment in Europe’s industrial decarbonisation and competitiveness. It is expected to capture and store around 12 million tons of CO₂ over the next 15 years. It will promote the reduction of emissions from energy intensive industries like fertilisers and ammonia. It will foster innovation, the creation of a strong industrial base and the development of this clean technology, as underlined in the Clean Industrial Deal and the recent proposal for the EU Emissions Trading System review.
In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Commissioner Hoekstra (pictured) said:
“Europe needs practical climate solutions that deliver real emissions reductions while strengthening industrial competitiveness. The carbon capture and storage project at Sluiskil shows what is possible when innovation and cross-border cooperation come together. This is exactly the kind of project Europe needs to combine climate ambition with a strong and resilient industrial base.”
You can follow the speech of the Commissioner on EBS.
