EC, Norway Agree to Promote Renewable Energy

June 2, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

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Representatives from the European Commission (EC) and Norway's government affirmed their commitment to promoting renewable energy and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects as part of Europe's energy strategy.

At a May 29 meeting, Andris Piebalgs, EC energy commissioner, and Åslaug Haga, Norwegian minister of petroleum and energy, also discussed bilateral cooperation, liberalisation of the energy markets and various energy-related issues of mutual interest.

Norway's gas imports are expected to reach 100 BCM in 2008, making it the second-most important supplier of oil and gas for the European Union (EU).

"EU-Norway cooperation in the field of energy is marked by excellent relations, both bilaterally as well as in international and industrial ventures.

"We would like to see this relationship continuously developed both bilaterally and within the framework of the European Economic Area Agreement and through common commitments in the fight against climate change," said Piebalgs.

"The EU is by far Norway's largest market for oil and gas, and energy issues are tightly interlinked, notably concerning energy security. The world will be dependent on fossil fuels for decades to come. At the same time, we need parallel efforts in developing renewable energy and energy efficiency," said Haga.

"CCS is an important element in making fossil fuels more environmentally friendly. Norway has 12 years of successful CO2 storage experience and is presently developing a test centre and two full-scale CCS projects. This government's policy is that all new gas-fired power plants should be based on CCS technology," Haga added.

Piebalgs and Haga discussed progress in their collaboration on CSS projects and reaffirmed their interest in furthering cooperation in this field. Norway's three CCS projects could come under the 12 projects the EU intends to develop in order to prove the viability of this technology.

As a part of existing cooperation on renewable energy between the EU and Norway, Piebalgs and Haga agreed to look into future cooperation in offshore wind developments.

Source: European Commission.