The Norwegian government focuses on carbon capture and storage

The Norwegian Government proposes to allocate NOK 1 125 million to research, technology development and work with carbon capture, transport and storage in 2008.

– The government places great emphasis on developing carbon capture and storage as an option for mitigating climate change. To achieve this it is necessary with a comprehensive commitment over several years on research, development and demonstration of CCS technology. This allocation demonstrates Norway’s strong commitment to carbon capture and storage, says Mrs. Åslaug Haga, Minister of Petroleum and Energy. – This is a very important initiative for dealing with the climate challenges the world is facing.

A comprehensive work is done in Norway regarding carbon capture and storage in 2007. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has established a project team to undertake the pre-engineering, planning and preparation of the capture facility at the Kårstø gas-fired power plant. The government has proposed an allocation of NOK 165 million to this work in 2008.

Last year the Norwegian state and Statoil signed an agreement to establish carbon capture and storage at the heat and power plant at Mongstad. The agreement is an important step on the road to developing technologies for reducing CO2 emissions.  The purpose of the European CO2 Test Centre Mongstad is to develop the technology in order to bring down capture costs and risks. An allocation of NOK 400 million is proposed to this work in 2008.

The Government is evaluating different solutions for carbon transport and storage from Kårstø and Mongstad. Gassco will on commission from the State follow up the work on establishing transport and storage solutions for the Mongstad test centre. The Government has proposed to allocate NOK 370 million in 2008 to the work related to transport and storage solutions for Mongstad and Kårstø.

- The CCS work is very high on my priority list, says Minister Haga.

In June 2007, the Government set up Gassnova SF as a state-owned company tasked with safeguarding state interests concerning carbon capture, transport and storage projects.