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By Nora Buli and Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Norway said on Monday it would
finance 16.8 billion crowns ($1.83 billion) out of an estimated
total investment of 25.1 billion crowns for what could be the
world's first full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS)
project.
CCS has been cited by governments, energy companies and
industry for decades as central to plans to reduce emissions and
move to a lower-carbon future, but development has been slow and
there are few commercial projects in existence in the world.
Under the plan, the Norwegian government would fund a carbon
capture project at a cement factory in southern Norway operated
by Germany's Heidelberg Cement.
The government would also finance a facility at a waste
incineration plant in Oslo operated by Finland's Fortum
- if the latter can find external financial support.
Oslo will also finance Northern Lights, a joint venture
between European oil majors Equinor, Shell
and Total that would transport and bury the captured
emissions in an offshore geological formation in the North Sea.
Named Longship after the vessel used by Vikings, the project
was a "milestone in the Government's industry and climate
efforts", Prime Minister Erna Solberg said.
"The project will lead to emission cuts, and facilitate
development of new technology and thus new jobs," she told a
news conference.
This is the second time the oil-producing nation has tried
to launch CCS. A decade ago Norway tried to capture greenhouse
gas emissions at a gas power plant.
State oil firm Equinor, then called Statoil,
failed to execute the plan, touted as Norway's moon landing,
because of insurmountable cost issues.
(Editing by Gwladys Fouche and David Evans)
