Brussels, 08/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - Norway has inaugurated the world's largest facility for developing carbon capture and storage (CCS). The centre's two carbon capture plants have a combined capacity to process 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
On Monday 7 May, Norway launched the largest CCS plant in Mongstad. Financed by the Norwegian government, the one-billion dollar project will allow two post-combustion carbon capture technologies to be tested, technologies that could be extended to industrial-scale use if shown to be cost-effective and safe. “It is an important project for Norway and for the world”, said Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who inaugurated the plant on Monday.
The CCS facility is unique in that it can test exhaust gases from two nearby sources - a 280 Megawatt combined heat and power plant and the 10 million tonne per year Mongstad refinery. Together, these plants process 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Norway's Energy Minister Ola Borten Moe explained that a full-scale CCS facility at Mongstad might be possible later, with an investment decision due in 2016, but that emissions permit prices had to rise to justify the spending.
Attending the opening ceremony alongside Jens Stoltenberg, Günther Oettinger again hailed the CCS efforts made by Norway, at a time when other demonstration projects in Europe are in stalemate due to lack of investment. “It is an important milestone in Europe's undertaking to develop CCS technologies. It will provide a new momentum to the discussion of CCS use in Europe”, the energy commissioner stressed. (EH/transl.jl)