WORLD CLASS OPENING FOR NORWAY’S GLOBAL CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Tamar Hallerman and Ed Helminski
GHG Monitor
05/11/12

BERGEN, NORWAY—Norway unveiled its long-anticipated carbon capture technology research center earlier this week, stepping forward on an investment the country hopes will ultimately accelerate the deployment of CO2 capture technology to ensure the sustainability of fossil fuel use while reducing carbon emissions. In a high-profile ceremony on the banks of the North Sea, the Norwegian government—through Gassnova and Statoil, its CCS RD&D arm and oil company in which it has majority control, respectively—and partners Shell and Sasol, opened the Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM). The $985 million post-combustion capture facility will initially test the viability of Alstom’s chilled ammonia capture process and Aker Clean Carbon’s amine-based capture system on two large pilot-scale lots. Statoil billed TCM as the largest test facility of its kind, as well as the only CO2 capture research facility in the world that uses flue gas from a natural gas-fired plant. Statoil’s nearby oil refinery will also provide flue gas with a higher CO2 content for the facility, according to the oil company.

TCM’s opening ceremony stretched out over two days and included a day-long seminar on carbon capture and storage, drawing an elite group of speakers that included Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and International Energy Agency Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. “Today we are opening the world’s largest and most advanced laboratory for testing carbon capture technologies,” Stoltenberg said in remarks here. “Mongstad is an example for the future. We need to share the knowledge and the results to reach our common goals.” Global CCS Institute CEO Brad Page called TCM “undoubtedly one of the most important new facilities to progress CCS.” Statoil CEO Helge Lund said the facility is “an important contribution for maturing this important technology further.”

TCM Investment Could Extend Oil, Gas Dominance

At first glance, the carbon capture test facility seems like an odd investment for a Scandinavian nation that uses little coal and relies on hydropower for more than 98 percent of its electricity generation, according to International Energy Agency figures. However, the country with a population of 5 million has one of the continent’s largest oil and gas reserves, found mostly offshore, and exports almost all it produces to Western Europe. By investing in TCM, Norway’s oil and gas industry hopes to be a step ahead of the curve if an international climate change agreement mandates carbon emission reductions.

Investing in TCM also falls in line with Norway’s reputation of being a proactive voice on climate change mitigation. “TCM is a specific example of Norway’s commitment to combating climate change,” Norwegian Petroleum and Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe said in his remarks. “The experience we gather here will be of particular importance in developing technology that reduces carbon emissions.” The country was one of the world’s first to set a price on carbon, establishing a $51/ton CO2 fee on emissions from offshore oil and gas operations in 1991. Norway is also an ardent supporter of the Kyoto Protocol and is currently moving forward on plans to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. A white paper released by the government late last month also expressed the desire to establish a new climate and energy fund totaling $5.2 billion in 2013 to help spur the development of greenhouse gas emissions reduction technology, including CCS.

Norway Hopes to Continue CCS Leadership

TCM represents Norway’s most recent effort to assert itself as a world leader in CCS technology development. The country was early pioneer in backing the technology in the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, with development of the world’s first commercial CO2 storage project, Statoil’s offshore Sleipner in 1996. Statoil later followed that with the Snøhvit CO2 sequestration project in 2008. However, like many countries across the world, Norway saw plans for its commercial-scale demonstration program—also set for Mongstad—slow in recent years. Initially proposed in 2007, Stoltenberg called the commercial-scale demonstration project the technological equivalent to Norway’s “moon landing.” However, most recently the government said it would delay making an investment decision on the 350 MW project until 2016, citing uncertainties surrounding the public health and environmental effects of amine solvents after they are emitted into the atmosphere.

Gassnova CEO Bjørn-Erik Haugan told GHG Monitor last month that TCM is indicative of the Norwegian government’s commitment to CCS. “The idea that this is not happening on the fast track is completely wrong. It does demonstrate the steadfast commitment by the Norwegian government and Parliament to support development of CCS technology,” he said. But van der Hoeven also made it clear this week that TCM is only a start for developing CCS technology on the commercial-scale. “If we look at it realistically, we have still a long way to go, but this is a necessary step in that way, because if you don’t make that step [with CCS], the way isn’t there anymore,” she said.