FRP says no to the government’s CO2 plan – E24

– When the government presented the project on September 21, from the FRP we were clear that this type of project has a great risk. With the Stoltenberg government’s failed attempt at a Mongstad moon landing in mind, the FRP’s primary focus has been to make sure we don’t waste taxpayers’ money, says party leader Siv Jensen.

FRP believes that the state, and therefore taxpayers, bear too much of the project risk. The Storting group decided on Wednesday to say no to the government’s plan, called “Longship.”

– Up to NOK 18 billion in these state investments go beyond other things that are important to implement to create jobs and better welfare services for people. Private companies get very little of the bill, Jensen says.

She is skeptical that private companies can still retain ownership of the technology, and thus the potential profit. In addition, she believes that the government has not implemented the necessary cost and risk reduction measures.

– Create jobs

Both the NHO and the LO Industri Energi union react to no.

– Carbon capture and storage is an investment with great export potential, and something that both the industry and the union movement have worked for for years. The project secures and creates jobs and a base for new business. We hope the FRP, as a major industrial party, will see this when state budget negotiations begin, says Mari Sundli Tveit, director of policy at NHO.

– Not in my wildest imagination, I had thought that the Progress Party would sabotage one of the most important projects in Norwegian industrial history, says union leader Frode Alfheim at Industri Energi.

He says they have had the impression that this is a project that the FRP was also eager to achieve when they were in government.

– I want to extend a hand to the Party of Progress and start a dialogue on how we can save this project, which is so enormously important for Norwegian industry, he continues.

From the cement factory to the bottom of the sea

The government announced last week that it will continue with plans to capture CO2 from Norcem’s cement factory in Brevik and transport it by ship to a receiving terminal in Øygarden. There, the greenhouse gas will be pumped through pipes to a warehouse below the seabed on the Norwegian shelf. The capture facility will cost NOK 3.8 billion in investments. In addition, the state must invest NOK 10.4 billion in transport and storage.

The government is also opening up to provide NOK 3 billion for CO2 capture at the waste incineration plants at Klemetsrud in Oslo, but owner Fortum must find other sources of funding as well.

SV, Ap and MDG have announced that they will fight for the state to fund both fishing facilities.

However, the FRP has always been skeptical about the whole project and the county team in Oslo asked the Storting politicians to say no before the weekend.