Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
10/10/2014
The government of Norway has restructured its carbon capture and storage deployment strategy to focus on supporting a full-scale CCS demonstration project elsewhere in the European Union instead of within its own boarders, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy announced this week. Work to develop a full-scale demonstration project in Norway will continue, but further studies are needed, according to a ministry press release. “Norwegian power production is primarily based on renewable resources. Therefore, Norway has few land-based facilities suitable for CCS. Emissions from industrial production are the most relevant. We will continue Gassnova’s study of potential full-scale projects in Norway. In dialogue with relevant companies Gassnova will explore whether there is a basis for initiating an industrial project process with the realization of full-scale CO2 capture as the objective,” the release says. “At the same time Gassnova will also co-ordinate an initial study of transport and storage solutions from the relevant emission sources. The first phase is expected to last until mid-2015. Thereafter a more detailed analysis will have to be undertaken, through feasibility studies.”
However, while progress toward a full-scale project within Norway is delayed, the country has signaled to the European Commission its interest in supporting the development of a full-scale CCS demonstration project elsewhere in Europe and has committed roughly $19.4 million to aid in the formation of such a project. “We have replied positively to an invitation from the European Commission to participate in a joint effort to help realize a full-scale CCS project in Europe. Therefore we have proposed to commit funding of up to NOK 125 million to participate in such a co-operation,” the release says. This commitment, paired with continued research into CCS deployment within Norway, makes up the country’s new two-pronged CCS strategy. “A comprehensive commitment to CCS is necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Government’s ambition is to realize at least one full-scale demonstration facility by 2020. This is a challenging task. We are working along two paths: Accommodating realization of a full-scale CCS facility in Norway and responding positively to participate in a joint effort to support such a facility in Europe,” Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien said in the release.
Further, the government will continue to support research and development efforts at the CO2 Technology Center Mongstad (TCM) by providing significant financial support. “The CO2 Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) delivers important contributions to the development of capture technologies. The Government therefore proposes to grant NOK 227.5 million [$35.3 million USD] for the operation of the technology centre, and NOK 65 million [$10.1 million USD] for modifications, maintenance and further development of the facility. This will enable testing of several technologies at the centre,” the release says.
