Are we fit for a climate neutral industry in Europe?

Checked agains delivery. 

Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm delighted to be here today to discuss how to facilitate a climate neutral industry in Europe.

Fighting climate change and promoting climate neutral growth and industry is a defining task, which will require huge efforts.

Norway and the EU enjoy a particularly close relationship. Norway shares the European Commission’s vision for a European Green Deal. We are a partner, and we contribute to its implementation.

Norway also welcomes the willingness to put the European Green Deal at the centre of Europe’s economic recovery from Covid-19.

With the knowledge we have today, widespread carbon capture and storage - or CCS - at lowest possible cost, will be necessary to meet the climate targets.

The speed of development and commercial viability will depend on working together to keep costs down and delivering projects in accordance to plan.

CCS is a priority for the Norwegian government. Last year, we launched the Longship project. This is the largest climate project in Norwegian industry ever, and the first one to integrate a complete, full scale CCS-chain.

Construction work has started. From the second half of 2024, Longship will start capturing and permanently storing CO2.

Longship will reduce emissions from Norwegian industry, nurture technology development, and create jobs. But the project's overarching objective is to speed up the development and deployment of CCS technology globally.

Northern Lights is the transport and storage operator in Longship. Formed as a partnership between Equinor, Shell and Total Energies, the company has incentives to connect new projects, both foreign and domestic, to their storage facility.

Recent developments are encouraging.

Northern Lights is experiencing increased interest from European capture projects who are in need of a storage solution. Norway has more than 25 years of experience with safe storage at two offshore gas fields. 19 million tonnes of CO2 have been stored at the Sleipner field.

Norway is not alone in investing in CO2 storage projects. Plans for storage projects in the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark can help European industry to decarbonise – maintaining jobs and ensuring a sustainable transition. This is a very positive development.

The critical mass of CCS needs to be achieved within this decade and we need more players on the field.

If carbon capture and storage is to become an efficient climate policy instrument and help facilitate climate neutral industry, subsequent facilities must be established in Europe and globally – and it must be done now.

There are no technical barriers to implement CCS. There are, however, economic, commercial and regulatory barriers.

Sufficient incentives in the EU and at the national level are therefore vital to support the development and deployment of CCS in Europe.

Considerable transboundary barriers exist for the cross-border transport of CO2 to storage sites. The Trans-European Networks for Energy – or TEN-E - should give these barriers due considerations. The Council General
Approach from June, and the vote in the ITRE Committee Monday suggest improvements in the text regarding CO2 storage and transport by ship.

In many cases, portfolios of storage sites will need to be prepared simultaneously to provide a dependable and flexible storage infrastructure.

Storage facilities and associated infrastructure by ship, rail or truck for the purpose of transboundary CO2 transport should be considered as an integral part of cross-border carbon dioxide networks.

Sharing of infrastructure for CO2 transport and storage will save time and money in the transition towards a climate neutral industrial sector in Europe.

The upcoming legislative revisions should create market-based incentives for the deployment of CCS. The provisional application of the amendment of the London Protocol, opens for allowing cross border storage of CO2.

However, ratification of the London Protocol should still be encouraged. This will ensure that CO2 is allowed to cross national borders for permanent storage, even without the provisional application.

I hope we can work together in support of all these incentives, which in turn will aid the development of CCS and climate neutral industries in Europe. I look forward to the rest of the discussion.

For now, thank you for your attention!