NEMO Maritime: Developing technology for direct injection of CO2 from vessels into offshore reservoirs

NEMO Maritime is developing a solution for transportation and discharging of CO2, by direct injection from vessels - bypassing intermediary storage and pipelines, thereby eliminating the need for costly permanent infrastructure investments in a one step operation.

In the global pursuit of sustainable solutions to combat climate change, Carbon Capture, Transport, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) has emerged as a transformative technology. Within the landscape of CCUS, Stavanger-based NEMO Maritime is pioneering an innovative concept for the transport and offshore storage of liquid CO2, marking a significant step towards reducing carbon emissions in industrial applications.

Established in 2020, NEMO Maritime, represented by founders Tore Lea who has held various management positions in the energy industry, and Ole Johan Østvedt, geologist of background with vast experience from the petroleum industry within exploration and business development roles.

They have utilized their extensive knowledge from oil and gas to build their novel approach to CCUS, utilizing maritime transport for both carrying and directly injecting CO2 into offshore reservoirs.

Patent progress and concept differentiation

The journey of NEMO Maritime began with early concept development in CCS, supported by Innovation Norway, leading to support from the Research Council for an Industrial Research Project (IPN). Upon the project award in 2021, Managing Director at the Norwegian Research Council Mari Sundli Tveit stated that ‘this project type is what the industry need to enable large scale of CCS’.

The patent process has been underway in parallel in Norway and internationally, already with successful patent awards in Norway and Australia.

Additionally, a CLIMIT project administrated by Gassnova, was awarded last spring. This project focuses on developing the technology link between ships and wells for direct CO2 injection. NEMO Maritime is leading the initiative alongside global industry players, such as Onesubsea/Schlumberger, TotalEnergies and OMV.

What distinguishes NEMO Maritime's concept from other solutions is the bypassing of intermediary storage and pipelines, eliminating the need for costly permanent infrastructure investments. This approach aligns with environmental goals, as it minimizes the impact on natural ecosystems and reduces the use of materials like concrete for building docks and pipelines.

A flexible concept

According to the founders, NEMO's concept offers superior flexibility compared to other CCS solutions. The ship can pick up CO2 from various loading ports and inject it into multiple reservoirs, resulting in shorter distances and lower carbon emissions.

According to Lea, NEMO Maritime envisions that the concept will be entirely green by 2030, when technology for emission-free transport fuelled by for example hydrogen or ammonia hopefully will be ready.

- Direct injection of CO2 from vessels has the capacity to revolutionize the CCUS industry both in Europe and globally, Lea says.

- The transformative potential lies in the decentralization, making CCS operations cheaper, more flexible, and efficient in aligning emitters with storage places. It also speeds up the process, avoiding the complexities and lack of flexibility that come by using pipeline solutions.

NEMO's direct-injection-approach makes it easier for smaller emitters and regions without much storage space to do CCS. Plus, it helps create a largeruropean-funded market across Europe for scaling up the storage of CO2 when it's needed.

Strategic collaboration and EU funding

NEMO Maritime is actively engaged in projects that explore the applicability of its concept. Collaborating with NORCE Norwegian Research Center on an EU project (CETP), NEMO aims to investigate CO2 injection and storage possibilities in reservoirs in areas outside the Norwegian waters area spanning from the Baltic, and Black Sea to the southern North Sea.

The CETP project builds on previous projects such as ACT ECO-BASE, and H2020 Strategy CCUS. The project will evaluate the potential of ship-based CO2 transport with direct injection (the NEMO concept) for these new areas, which are surrounded by large emission sites.

Market readiness and regulatory landscape

NEMO Maritime is strategically positioning itself to be among the early players in the European market as large-scale carbon capture initiatives gain momentum. However, the company acknowledges the need for regulatory adjustments on the Norwegian continental shelf.

- The existing regulations, tailored for oil and gas fields, must evolve to accommodate the unique characteristics of CO2 storage, Ole Johan Østvedt explains. The geologist is playing a key role in NEMO Maritime and is the project head for their IPN and CLIMIT projects.

NEMO starts with first things first

What also sets NEMO Maritime apart is that, unlike other technology developers who retroactively adapt existing solutions for CCS, NEMO began with reservoir analysis, understanding CO2 behaviour in reservoirs and designing the technology accordingly. The company prioritizes profitability for its customers and incorporates dynamic positioning for CO2 unloading and a stabilizing buoy for inclement weather, showcasing a commitment to versatile and effective solutions.

As such, NEMO Maritime stands at the forefront of a paradigm shift in maritime-based CCUS solutions, offering a unique, environmentally friendly, and economically viable approach to address the challenges of carbon capture and storage.

As the world intensifies efforts to combat climate change, NEMO Maritime's innovative concept could play a pivotal role in shaping a sustainable future.

NEMO recently became member of Energy Transition Norway

- We wanted to become members of ETN because we consider this platform to be crucial for engaging with key players who have the expertise and resources to contribute to the green transition in Norway, perhaps even most important.

- In this assessment, we also recognize that the expertise gained through oil and gas operations will be essential for Norway to succeed in transitioning to a low-carbon society in the future. We aim to use our membership in ETN to expand NEMO's already extensive industrial collaborations, says Tore Lea about the membership.