The government will have hydrogen operation in Vestfjord from 2024 – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

– We believe this is a good starting point for hydrogen investment in Norway, Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) tells NRK.

After researching the matter for a long time, the government has finally decided: starting in 2024, the ferry connection at Vestfjord in Nordland will be required to use hydrogen as fuel.

– We want to promote technology. We know that hydrogen will be one of the most important fuels in the future, and so we believe that this will allow us to achieve more similar projects, says the Minister of Children and Families Kjell Ingolf Ropstad (KrF).

Hydrogen operation has become an important zero-emission solution at sea, where battery operation alone provides too short a range.

– For the Liberal Party it is incredibly important to maintain high pressure on the green transition, adds the Minister of Education and Integration Guri Melby (V).

It is not often that the government meets with the three party leaders to discuss fuel on a group of ferries. The Vestfjorden case is considered very important in environmental policy.

In fact, the government has been silenced by both the business community and the opposition for being behind hydrogen investment in Norway.

Much more expensive new technology

The Vestfjord will be the first “really big” ferry connection to run on hydrogen in Norway. A hydrogen ferry is already planned to be installed on the Hjelmelandssambandet in Rogaland starting next year, but the Vestfjord will be on a completely different scale.

However, it will be a much more expensive solution than current gasoline shuttles. No one knows how much more expensive before the bids come in, but as far as NRK understands, the additional cost can quickly run into a billion.

In any case, the government believes that it is worth the money.

– If we are going to create the new technologies and the industrial Norway from which we will live in the future, then the public sector must use its tenders to create demand, says Solberg.

Lokal skepsis

However, the decision on the hydrogen operation is met with great skepticism at the local level. Many have bad experiences with new technologies.

– For us, it is important that we avoid what we experienced in 2013 when we got new gas shuttles and had already had 1,000 cancellations in September, Røst Mayor Elisabeth Kristin Mikalsen tells NRK.

But the government ensures that hydrogen operation, when used, will be safe and reliable.

“I can assure people that the ferry will go, but it will give a lot less emissions,” says Guri Melby.

Greetings in Glomfjord

One of the companies that has embarked on the hydrogen train is Glomfjord Hydrogen. The company has highlighted the ferry connection at Vestfjord as a major potential customer.

– We expected it and we thought it would come, but it is good that now it has been decided, says project manager Thomas Fiksdal to NRK.

The plan is to produce hydrogen from renewable energy at the Glomfjord Industrial Park in Meløy in Nordland. From there, the hydrogen will be liquefied and transported 100 km to Bodø and filled on the ferries there, if the company wins the tender for hydrogen production, of course.

The Vestfjord ferries are expected to use up to 10 tonnes of hydrogen per day. Fiksdal says the company is not dependent on getting the contract to start production, but that it will obviously mean a lot to do so.

– Then we can produce more and hydrogen will be cheaper, both for ferries and possibly other customers, says Fiksdal.

Praise SV, but wait for more

The Storting representative, Lars Haltbrekken of SV, is not the one who most often brags about the government’s priorities. Today is different.

– This is great news! It’s a case SV has worked on for a long time, he tells NRK.

He says that we are now facing a “green revolution” in which Norway has the opportunity to build a new industrial adventure. Therefore, he believes that the government must continue to press.

– What we need now is an equally strong investment in hydrogen on the rest of the coast. Make demands on oil companies about zero-emission hydrogen in the supply fleet, says Haltbrekken.

– Nonsense from a climate perspective

There are also others outside the local area who are disappointed that the government is hydrogen bombing the ferries in Vestfjord.

Pia Farstad von Hall runs Biogass Norway. She emphasizes that today’s gas shuttles can easily be “converted” to use biogas.

– Biogas is a climate-friendly and economically better alternative to hydrogen in Vestfjord because the ferries and infrastructure already exist, he previously told NRK.

He then emphasized that he does not care about hydrogen as such, but thinks it strange to choose Vestfjorden for this solution.

– It does not make sense from a climate perspective not to use existing ferries and use biogas together with LNG, believes von Hall.

It is true that the hydrogen tender that the government plans to open will allow a reserve solution on board the ferries to be based on biogas. But that was not exactly what von Hall wanted.

Rounds in government

The opportunity to develop a Norwegian hydrogen industry is of great concern to Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration originally proposed that hydrogen requirements be set at the Vestfjorden connection. But the Transport Ministry wanted to do an additional round to see if biogas was a better alternative, especially in terms of costs.

From what NRK understands, the decision was considered so political that it was raised at the government level. There, the consideration of business development triumphed over the arguments for choosing the most affordable solution in the short term.