COPENHAGEN, June 17 (Reuters) - Equinor and French gas grid operator GRTgaz have signed a deal for a carbon dioxide (CO2)transport system for captured CO2 from industrial emitters in France to storage offshore Norway, the Norwegian company said on Monday.

The system will transport CO2 captured in France to permanent storage offshore Norway via the planned CO2 Highway Europe pipeline project, Equinor said in a statement.

The capacity in the initial phase will be 3 million to 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year, and can be expanded to also accommodate CO2 captured at other industrial clusters in France, the Norwegian company added. (Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)