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Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) says the government will set aside NOK 2 billion for carbon capture and storage in the state budget next year. The use of the money marks the beginning of a major announced investment of several billion.
Prime Minister Erna Solberg pictured during a visit to the Kvaerner shipyard in Stord, during a celebration of the start of construction of the Hywind Tampen offshore wind project
Jan Kåre Ness
Published:,
The Prime Minister’s statement came during the national Young Conservatives gathering on Saturday. Conservatives refer to it as the biggest climate investment of all time for Norwegian industry on a state budget.
The use of money is part of the investment already announced by the government in carbon capture and storage (CCS).
See the overview of all budget leaks found at the bottom of the case!
The news comes shortly after the government announced on September 21 that it is in favor of carbon sequestration at Norcem’s cement factory in Brevik, in the so-called “Langskip” project.
In addition, the government will provide limited support for the Fortum capture facility at the Klemetsrud waste facility in Oslo, and the “Northern Lights” storage project in the North Sea will continue.
– This is a great technology project for Norway. It was important for me to be able to tell Unge Høyre that we are now committing to a green transition, Solberg tells NTB.
– All calculations show that if the world wants to achieve its goals, this is more important than perhaps anything else, said Solberg, who emphasized that Norway has now taken the lead in international development with carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The government received a lot of support for the decision on the Brevik project, but was also criticized for limiting support for Klemetsrud to three billion.
According to the government, Norwegian CCS projects will cost NOK 25 billion, of which the state will take around NOK 16.8 billion.
€ 17.1 billion are spent on investments in Brevik, Klemetsrud and Northern Lights (CO₂ storage in the North Sea), while around € 8.0 billion are spent on operations.
also read
FRP says no to the government’s CO₂ plan
The government’s “budget partner” in the Storting, Frp, later made it clear that they are critical of the entire initiative, in part because of the price and risk taxpayers run.
Facing VG, the Prime Minister opens up to go to others to get enough support:
– I do not perceive that Frp is in principle against the project, but that they want to keep costs low. That’s how we are. We will enter into dialogue with them. We get a lot of signals from key FRP members across the country that they think this is a very important project. Then we’ll see, Solberg tells VG and continues:
– Thus, first we go to Frp to investigate if they support us on the budget and on various issues. If they don’t want it, we turn to others to gain support on important issues.
Background:
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Will capture CO₂ at Norcem’s cement factory in Brevik
also read
Criticism of the government’s CO₂ plans: “Disappointed” and “half-hearted”
Trapped on land – stored in the sea
The focus on carbon capture and storage (called CCS) is considered very important in the work of reducing climate emissions. This is because the technology can be used to reduce emissions from gas and coal power plants, industrial production, and energy-intensive processes.
The technology can be especially useful in processes where heat or amounts of energy are required so large that the use of electricity is demanding.
In addition to being able to reduce emissions from the industry, there are also opportunities for Norway to make money by storing CO₂ from Europe under the seabed on the Norwegian shelf.
The technology is also expensive and will require further development in the coming years.
In Norway, work on CAC has been going on for years. The first major project launched was what the Stoltenberg government called its “moon landing,” that is, the capture facility in Mongstad. Billions were spent, but the project never turned out as expected.
In recent times, the work has gone through several axes.
On the watershed side, three plants were initially evaluated: Yara’s ammonia plant on the outskirts of Porsgrunn, Norcem’s cement plant in Brevik, and Fortum’s waste plant in Oslo. In 2018, it became clear that Yara withdrew from the project.
In September, it became clear that the government is in favor of the Brevik project and that limited support is provided to the Klemetsrud plant. For the latter to become a reality, Fortum will have to find additional funding elsewhere.
The last part of the CCS initiative deals with warehousing and will take place on the Norwegian platform.
Equinor, Total, and Shell have worked in collaboration with the state to investigate the possibilities of this.
In May, the three oil giants decided to invest NOK 6.9 billion in the first part of the project called “Northern Lights”.
also read
Will spend 6.9 billion on prestigious CO₂ storage
Data on budget leaks from the 2021 state budget:
* NOK 32.1 billion for railways, up from NOK 26.8 billion in last year’s proposal.
* NOK 6 billion for the fight against the crown in next year’s state budget, in addition to the regular health budget and other crisis packages. 3.8 billion will be allocated to the purchase of vaccines, 1.1 billion to an emergency stock of medicines and 650 million to tests at border crossings.
* NOK 700 million for the state-owned company Nysnø Klimainvesteringer, which invests in various companies developing new and climate-friendly technology.
* NOK 500 million to the police so that the 400 posts that were created temporarily due to the corona pandemic can be made permanent.
* NOK 170 million to strengthen focus on child and youth mental health. 100 million go to municipalities, 35 million to a digital health station, 30 million to the child welfare service and 5 million to the development and evaluation of the interdisciplinary and outreach team FACT ung.
* NOK 157.7 million for cheaper SFO for low-income families. The money will be used, among other things, to expand the plan with parental pay based on income to also apply to the third and fourth tiers. Money is also set aside for free SFO for low-income families in select municipalities.
* NOK 120 million more for children’s leisure cards, so the government will spend a total of NOK 180 million on the scheme.
* NOK 100 million for extended assistance to express bus companies affected by the crisis.
* NOK 100 million to municipalities that will be allocated to children and young people with disabilities.
* The one-time benefit, which is granted to mothers who are not entitled to parental benefit, is increased from NOK 84,720 to NOK 90,300.
* NOK 70 million to insure old churches.
* It is proposed to grant Norsk Rikstoto a tax allowance corresponding to the totalizing tax of 3.3% of turnover. Last year, the revenue from this tax was budgeted at NOK 120 million.
* It is proposed to reinforce efforts against work-related crime by NOK 52 million. 38 million will go to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority to ensure better enforcement of the recruitment regulations that were introduced for the construction industry this year. 14 million go to the Norwegian Petroleum Safety Authority to get better control of working conditions in the offshore industry.
* NOK 32 million to strengthen coastal surveillance.
* NOK 26.5 million for the creation of 100 new educational positions for doctors, the so-called LIS1 positions.
