Norway and U.K. Create Energy Pact

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Written by Martin Lynch, European Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--The U.K. and Norway have announced that they will cooperate on renewable energy projects and the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

The joint ministerial statement released this week outlines how the countries will work closely on offshore wind projects to help lower the costs of deployment. They will also continue their support for ongoing work to connect the electricity grids of both countries. Last October, the countries announced plans to build an undersea power interconnector to link the two countries' power grids. The proposed 1.22 billion euro ($1.55 billion) interconnector will be the world's longest interconnection and will allow for the transmission of power from North Sea offshore windfarms and hydropower from Norway to the U.K. For additional information, October 13, 2009, article - Norway and U.K. to Develop $1.6 Billion Subsea Energy Interconnector.

The statement was released jointly by U.K. Energy Minister Charles Hendry and Norway's Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Terje Riis-Johansen.

"The countries will encourage energy companies to exchange information on the development of offshore North Sea wind energy projects in order to learn from each other and lower costs for industry across the entire value chain," the statement said.

They pledged support to the feasibility study being carried out by the U.K.'s National Grid and Norway's grid operator, Statnett, on a subsea interconnector and also to encourage the uptake of renewables and access to green energy in developing countries.

On the CCS front, the countries have agreed to move forward with the One North Sea CCS project. A work programme for Phase III of the project will be established, including recommendations from the U.K.-Norway funded One North Sea study. The recently completed One North Sea report found that about 50% of Europe's CO2 storage potential sits under the North Sea. Most of the demand for that storage will come from the countries that make up the North Sea Basin Task force, which are Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.K.

The U.K. and Norway plan to work jointly with China to advise them in hosting the next Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum ministerial meeting in 2011 and to coordinate with other European ministers on ways to overcome barriers to CCS deployment.

Both countries made commitments on the oil and gas front, reaffirming the value of the existing relationship whereby Norway is the key supplier of natural gas to the U.K. There will also be a renewed focus on energy security by increased information sharing in case of emergency gas-supply disruptions and a move to develop better cooperation between system operators.

IIR's Renewable Energy Database provides extensive coverage on the wind energy, geothermal, hydroelectric, landfill gas-to-energy and utility-scale solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.

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