IEA: Energy Technology Perspectives

 

• Let me first thank IEA’s Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven for your presentation of the Energy Technology Perspectives 2012.

 

• I am pleased to have the opportunity to comment on this flagship publication from the IEA, which has become an important tool for decision-makers – also in Norway.

 

• Having the ETP report presented here at ONS, proves that this exhibition is no longer a meeting place for the petroleum industry only. The last few years the renewable park of the conference has grown substantially and ONS has become an important meeting place for the entire energy sector!

 

• In this way, ONS increasingly reflects Norway as an energy nation: We are a large producer of oil and gas. We have been so for decades, and will continue to be so for a long time to come. We are also a large producer of renewable energy, particularly hydropower – and have been so for even longer.

 

• (There is a tendency to create antagonism between fossil and renewable energy sources in the Norwegian public debate. I believe this is a contrived conflict.

 

• The world needs more energy to create growth, reduce poverty and to improve quality of life for hundreds of millions of people. We will therefore produce and deliver our petroleum resources to the world as efficiently and environment-friendly as possible. At the same time, we will adapt our society in an increasingly more renewable and more sustainable direction.)

 

• There are a number of interesting findings in the ETP report, which the Executive Director touched upon in her presentation. Let me comment on some of them.

 

• The ETP report lists a number of shortcomings, but points out one area where we see good progress – namely renewable energy.

 

• Here we are well on track in Norway. We have half of Europe’s reservoir capacity, and a larger renewable share than any EU country – roughly 60 per cent.

 

• This is a result from our unique resource base. But it is also a result of a successful national energy policy, as well as a well-functioning market.

 

• In the years to come we will see a large increase in renewable energy projects in Norway. By 2020, we have committed to increase our share to 67.5 per cent. In comparison, the EU’s target is to increase its renewable share to 20 per cent in the same period.

 

• A major instrument for achieving this is the Norwegian-Swedish green certificate scheme, which started operating this year. This is the first cross-border support scheme for renewable energy.

 

• The green certificate support scheme is technology-neutral and market-based. And this is important: it means that the most efficient and least costly technologies and resources, the so-called low-hanging fruits, will be utilized first.

 

• As the ETP emphasizes, a precondition for more renewable energy is a better and more integrated grid. I totally agree. We frequently see that people are supporting renewable energy – in principle, but simultaneously protest against new grid developments. These are some of the issues we discussed in a recently published White Paper.

 

 

 

• A main point in the ETP is also the necessity of more technology research, development and demonstration.

 

• If new energy technologies are to be viable in the long run we need to increase efficiency and reduce production costs. But there are also a lot to gain from further development of more mature technologies, like hydropower.

 

• The Norwegian government has more than tripled the budget allocations for energy research in the last five years. A lot of work has already been done.

 

• Recently, we presented a White Paper on the government’s climate policy. The public enterprise Enova is to administer a new initiative to promote technological advances in industry that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the long-term.

 

• Further, The ETP stresses the challenges we still face on CCS technologies.

 

• Earlier this year, we opened Technology Centre Mongstad, TCM, and we were happy to have the IEA’s Executive Director among the guests.

 

• TCM is not only a large demonstration plant, but also the first of its kind to test two different types of capture technologies from two different sources of CO2, side-by-side.

 

• I think it is fair to say that Norway is one of the front-runners on CCS internationally – and we are in it for the long run.

 

 

• The ETP also brings into discussion the use of natural gas in the years ahead. It is clear that gas will continue to play an important role. I think there are good reasons for this.

 

• Gas is the cleanest of the fossil fuels, with a much smaller carbon footprint than, for instance, coal. Replacing coal with natural gas in continental Europe is hence one of the most efficient ways to bring down greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.

 

• Furthermore, as the share of renewable energy must rise, natural gas has important qualities as a reliable and stable back-up for intermittent renewable energy.

 

 

• I agree with the Executive Director that a global agreement that puts a price on carbon is vital! As long as emissions are seemingly cost-free for the polluter, there is no real initiative for doing anything about them.

 

• In the long run it will be crucial that companies get a clear signal from the market and that energy prices reflect the ‘true cost’ of energy. Only then will we get a lasting, sustainable energy mix (in the world).

 

 

• There are no easy solutions to the world’s energy challenges. We need to have a multi-track approach, and we need to do several things in parallel.

 

• The world still needs oil and gas for decades ahead. We must therefore strive to make our production as clean as possible, for instance by developing CCS technology.

 

• We must also increase our renewable energy production, we must strengthen the grid and we must continue our efforts on technology research, energy saving and energy efficiency.

 

• (Some have voiced concerns about an energy surplus in the Nordic countries in the future. I do not share this concern. More electricity production does not represent a problem, it represents opportunities:

 

• It represents a possibility for new – and green – industry to be established in Norway.
• It makes it easier to increase the use of electricity in the petroleum sector, as well as in the transport sector.
• With new inter-connectors being built, Norwegian hydropower can function as back-up for intermittent renewable energy in some parts of Northern Europe.
• And last – but not least – we will need more energy than today, simply because there will be more people living in Norway.)

 

• In some months, the main results of the first Nordic Energy Technology Perspectives will be published. I look forward to this study from the IEA which will provide us with further analysis on the special energy situation in the Nordic countries.

 

•  Thank you for your attention!

 

Foto: Tønnesen, Van der Hoeven og Borten Moe http://www.flickr.com/photos/oed_dep/