Europe's largest industrial carbon capture facility has been officially inaugurated at Yara's plant in Sluiskil, the Netherlands, marking what the company describes as the establishment of the first complete cross-border value chain for capturing, transporting, and permanently storing carbon dioxide.

The ceremony on September 7, 2026, brought together heads of government and senior European officials to mark an infrastructure milestone that its backers say demonstrates large-scale industrial decarbonization is achievable today.

A High-Profile Inauguration

The inauguration ceremony at Yara Sluiskil drew Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth Wopke Hoekstra, and Yara International's President and CEO Svein Tore Holsether.

The gathering of senior political figures from two countries alongside a top European Union official underscored the cross-border character of the project and its significance beyond a single national industrial policy.

Holsether framed the occasion in terms of Europe's broader industrial challenge. "This is an important day for Yara and for European industry. The carbon capture facility in Sluiskil proves that large-scale industrial decarbonization is possible today. As global competition intensifies, Europe must find ways to cut emissions while keeping industry, jobs, and critical value chains in Europe. That is exactly what this project is about," he said.

Scale and Technical Scope

Yara Sluiskil is described as Europe's largest ammonia and fertilizer plant. The new carbon capture facility is designed to capture and liquefy up to 800,000 tons of CO₂ annually from ammonia production at the site, thereby avoiding carbon taxation on the captured volumes.

Once liquefied, the CO₂ is temporarily stored at Sluiskil before being transported by ship to Norway, where it will be permanently stored 2,600 meters beneath the seabed by Northern Lights, the CO₂ storage infrastructure company.

Over the projected 15-year operational period, the project is expected to capture and store approximately 12 million tons of CO₂ in total, a figure Yara cites as a significant contribution toward European climate targets.

Northern Lights vessels will transport the liquefied CO₂ from the Netherlands to the Øygarden terminal in Norway, completing a logistics chain that crosses national borders and involves both private industrial infrastructure and subsea geological storage.

Northern Lights and the Cross-Border Model

The agreement between Yara and Northern Lights was signed in 2023, and the inauguration marks its translation into an operational system. Tim Heijn, Managing Director of Northern Lights, described the moment as one his organization had been anticipating.

"We are proud to start operations together with Yara and to see the agreement signed in 2023 become reality. Together, we are demonstrating that capture and cross-border CO₂ transport and storage are a viable solution for European industry," he said.

Heijn also pointed to the broader significance of the project for the emerging carbon management market in Europe, describing it as an example of what becomes possible when industry and governments collaborate to build the necessary infrastructure for the energy transition.

The project's architecture, in which CO₂ captured in the Netherlands is stored permanently under the Norwegian seabed — represents a template that Yara and Northern Lights suggest could be replicated by other European industrial emitters seeking access to permanent storage solutions through shared infrastructure.

Industrial Competitiveness and Climate Policy

A recurring theme among the officials and executives present at the inauguration was the dual objective of emissions reduction and industrial competitiveness.

European Commissioner Hoekstra argued that the project offers a model for reconciling climate ambition with the preservation of Europe's industrial base. "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," he said.

Yara identifies carbon capture and storage as a critical enabler for energy-intensive sectors that face structural difficulty in eliminating emissions through other means, including fertilizer and ammonia production, cement manufacturing, and waste management.

The company argues that CCS allows such industries to reduce their carbon footprint while maintaining production volumes, employment, and economic value in Europe rather than relocating to regions with less stringent climate regulation.

Applications Across Low-Carbon Value Chains

Yara states that the reduced-emissions production enabled by the Sluiskil facility will feed into multiple downstream markets. The company identifies low-carbon fertilizers for more sustainable food production, low-carbon ammonia for industrial applications and clean energy uses, and low-carbon fuels for the maritime sector as among the product categories that will benefit from the capture infrastructure.

Yara, which was founded in Norway in 1905, operates in over 60 countries and serves more than 140 markets. The company employs approximately 15,700 people and reported revenues of USD 15.7 billion in 2025. Its Sluiskil plant in the Netherlands serves as the company's largest single ammonia and fertilizer production site in Europe.

The Netherlands Carbon Capture Pipeline Is Moving Fast. Are You Keeping Up?

The pace of CCUS development across the Netherlands has accelerated dramatically, with new storage hubs, industrial decarbonisation projects, and cross-border transport networks entering the pipeline at a rate that makes manual monitoring increasingly unreliable. If your team is still piecing together project intelligence from fragmented sources, the gaps in your view are likely costing you opportunities.

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