Yara opens Europe’s largest carbon capture facility in Netherlands

Yara International has officially inaugurated Europe’s largest industrial carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility at its Sluiskil ammonia and fertilizer plant in the Netherlands. The project establishes the first complete cross-border value chain for CO2, capturing emissions in one country and storing them in another.

The facility is capable of capturing and liquefying up to 800,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the ammonia production process. This liquefied carbon will be transported by specialized ships to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Øygarden, Norway. Once there, the CO2 will be injected into geological formations approximately 2,600 meters beneath the North Sea seabed. Over the next 15 years, the project aims to capture and permanently store roughly 12 million tonnes of CO2.

The inauguration was attended by high-level officials, including the Prime Ministers of Norway and the Netherlands, and the European Commissioner for Climate, Wopke Hoekstra. While proponents view the project as a vital tool for decarbonizing hard-to-abate heavy industries and maintaining European competitiveness, some critics argue that CCS technology may serve as a distraction that delays more fundamental climate actions.