OSLO, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Equinor has won a licenseto develop carbon dioxide (CO2) storage under the North Sea,Norway's oil ministry said on Friday, part of a push to combatclimate change.
Equinor is expected to submit a development plan this year,with parliament making a final decision in 2020 or 2021.
Proponents of carbon capture and storage (CCS) say countriesneed the technology to help fulfil pledges made around the timeof the breakthrough Paris climate change agreement in 2015.
But environmentalists say is a costly technology that willperpetuate the status quo when rapid and deep cuts to energy useare needed to limit global warming.
The planned storage will be located near Norway's largestoil and gas field, Troll, and aims to be able to receive CO2from onshore facilities, such as power or cement plants, toreduce emissions to the atmosphere.
Equinor and partners Shell and Total areworking on front-end engineering and design (FEED)-studies,which should provide more accurate cost estimates.
The preliminary estimates from 2016 showed it could costbetween 7.2 billion crowns ($852 million) to 12.6 billion crownsto establish a full CCS chain, including CO2 transportation byships and the subsea storage.
Equinor said about 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year couldbe pumped for storage under the seabed during the first phase ofthe project, which could be later expanded.
If approved, the storage is expected to start operations in2023 or 2024, Gassnova, a governmental agency in charge ofdeveloping the CCS project, said.($1 = 8.4487 Norwegian crowns)(Reporting by Nerijus AdomaitisEditing by Alexander Smith)
