Government support to European research programme on CCS

On behalf of the Norwegian Government, Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien has replied positively to an invitation from the European Commissioner of Energy Günther Oettinger to participate in a research programme under the Horizon 2020 Programme. The Norwegian contribution will help establish a programme aiming to support research activities in the operative phase of a full scale CCS project in the EU.

Any project fulfilling the requirements of a joint call would be eligible to apply. The ROAD project in the Netherlands is currently the most mature project in Europe, and could be a possible candidate.

- Technology development and cost reductions are necessary for a broad deployment of CCS, and more full scale projects have to be realized to achieve this. I will be highly pleased if we can contribute to realizing a new full scale project in Europe through this reserach cooperation, says Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien. Meanwhile, he underlines that there are a number of steps remaining before we can conclude on the success of the programme.

The applicable research programme requires the participation of at least three countries. Based on an application process, in which potential projects may participate, research funds from the EU can be activated from 2017. The design of the programme is ongoing. Pursuing this possibility is in line with the ambition to invest on a broad basis in developing cost-effective CCS-technology stated in the Government’s Political Platform.

- A research programme such as this will be a useful contribution to the CCS strategy the Government is working on. I would like to emphasize that this effort does not replace the work considering the feasibility of full scale CCS in Norway.