Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
5/30/2014
The Norwegian government reiterated a commitment to establish at least one full-scale carbon capture and storage facility by 2020 in a revised national budget for 2014 released May 14. The new budget comes after a previous government announced last fall that plans to develop a full-scale CCS project at Mongstad were being abandoned. The Norwegian government shifted during last fall’s parliamentary election, however, becoming a coalition of the Conservative Party and the Progress Party, replacing the former Labour, Socialist Left and Centre Parties coalition which held the government for eight years. The new government has stressed a commitment to supporting CCS technology. “We need to increase knowledge and reduce the costs to bring this technology to the market and make it attractive. Norway and other countries need to continue to actively pursue technology and competence development, and develop projects for CO2 sequestration,” said Tord Lien, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, in a release.
The use of the Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) will be integral to meeting the country’s CCS goals according to the revised budget. Experience and knowledge gained through past, present and future work at TCM will be applied to the effort of launching a full-scale project and expanding understanding of CCS technology. “Technology for CO2 capture and storage is still expensive and require further testing. The government will invest more on research and development. Technology Centre Mongstad (TCM) and research [program] CLIMIT are key parts of its focus on CO2 sequestration,” a press release from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said. CLIMIT is a national program for research, development, piloting and demonstration of (CCS) technologies for power generation and other industrial sources.
Budget Lacks ‘Clear Vision,’ Activist Says
Sirin Engen, CCS advisor at the Bellona Foundation, said this week that while the new stated commitment to advancing CCS is welcome, the Norwegian government’s new budget proposal lacks “a clear vision” for the technology. “The Minister of Petroleum and Energy has, since taking office, highlighted the role of CCS as part of the solution to combat climate change numerous times. Bellona did expect that the Government would indeed give us clear signals regarding the way forward for CCS in Norway in the revised state budget. We found it peculiar that this document lacked ambition and a clear vision for CCS,” she said, further noting that “the Government did however promise that they will present their CCS strategy for Norway this fall. “
Time is of the essence, Engen said. “We believe that there is no time to waste after the collapse of Mongstad and we hoped that the Government would fast-track this issue, but we don’t think there is any reason to believe that the Government will not deliver on the promise of full-scale CCS. The main issue for Bellona is that they actually invest Norwegian resources in a full-scale project (from start to finish) and that they take advantage of the knowledge we have gained through our CCS efforts so far,” she said. “Norway, as one of the biggest fossil fuel exporters, needs to be part of the solution and must invest both time and money in technological advancements. In short, we do believe that that the Government will fulfill their CCS commitment. It’s unclear whether the project will be delivered on time or if the Government will be as ambitious as necessary.”
