Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs and the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Odd Roger Enoksen, met today to discuss ways to enhance the development on carbon capture and storage technologies, in the framework of the EC-Norway energy cooperation. "If we want to achieve the ambitious environmental goals of the European Energy Policy, the EU will have to develop carbon capture and storage technologies. The extensive experience of Norway in this area could have a very positive impact 1Norway foresees developing several long term projects for CO2 handling in cooperation with the industry. The first project to make sustainable fossil fuels a reality is to capture and store the CO2 from the combined heat and power plant currently being built at the Mongstad refinery. This full scale CCS facility will be operational in 2014. The first stage of this project, which entails technology development, will capture 100 000 tonnes of CO2 per year and will be finalised in parallel with the combined heat and power plant in 2010.", stated Commissioner Piebalgs and Minister Enoksen.

During the meeting, Commissioner Piebalgs and Minister Enoksen exchanged their views on the new energy package, recently adopted by the European Commission. Minister Enoksen welcomed in particular the Commission's proposals to develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies for fossil fuel power plants, which are in line with the thinking of the Norwegian Government.

Commissioner Piebalgs and Minister Enoksen also approved the outline for a joint EU-Norway paper on supply and demand of natural gas in the European Economic Area and in particular Norway's contribution to EU security and gas supply.

Concrete proposals concerning EC-Norway cooperation on carbon capture and storage as well as the joint paper on supply and demand of natural gas will be presented at the next EU-Norway Energy Dialogue meeting to be held in June 2007 in Norway.

EC-Norway energy cooperation

Energy package press pack