No EU support for CO2 capture at Klemetsrud
Fortum Oslo Varme applied for close to DKK 1 billion in support for the capture and storage of CO₂ at Klemetsrud. They get no to that.
Fortum Oslo Varme will capture CO₂ at their incineration plant at Klemetsrud in Oslo and store it in the North Sea. They have applied for 2 billion EU kroner for this.
On Tuesday, the rejection came from the EU’s innovation fund.
– The rejection surprises us. The plant is fully developed, has part-financing from the Norwegian state and can help remove emissions, says Jannicke Gerner Bjerkås, director of the project.
They can apply again before March 2022. Fortum has not decided whether they will apply again.
Climate goals may fail
The refusal is a major defeat for Fortum and Oslo municipality. The government has promised the project 3 billion in support if they secure external funding. If they get another no, they have to look for money elsewhere in the EU.
The project is of great importance for Oslo’s climate goals. At Klemetsrud, the waste that is converted into electricity, district heating and hot water is incinerated. The plant, which is operated by Fortum Oslo Varme, accounts for 15 percent of the city’s CO emissions.
Victoria Marie Evensen is city councilor for business and ownership. She is disappointed with the EU’s refusal.
– Now we have to look at other financing solutions, she says.
– Surprised
Bjerkås has previously said that a possible EU no will be a solid setback.
– We must consider applying again. First we have to go through the feedback, says Bjerkås.
The project costs NOK 7 billion.
– Who else has to pay?
– It is a process we must familiarize ourselves with. We do not stop. We are ready for the plant to be established. The way forward, we must sit down and discuss, says Bjerkås.
SV’s Lars Haltbrekken believes the state should take the bill when the EU does not support the project.
– We work for this project to be implemented and succeed, he says.
There he encounters adversity. FRP deputy leader Ketil Solvik-Olsen is crystal clear:
– The government should immediately put aside the plans to spend billions of taxpayers’ kroner on CO2 capture at Klemetsrud, he says.
The EU supported brand similar projects
Aftenposten has not succeeded in getting a comment from City Councilor Raymond Johansen (Labor Party).
Klemetsrud competed against 65 other projects. The pot of 10 billion kroner. Fortum Oslo Varme alone is about 18 percent of this.
Among the fiercest competitors were similar projects in Stockholm and Copenhagen. The project in Stockholm received support. So did six other projects. Hear her.
Carbon capture and storage is abbreviated to CCS (carbon capture and storage).
However, four other foreign CCS facilities received support. Three of them plan to store gas in the North Sea.
Would persuade the EU with letters from the owners
This summer, Fortum Oslo Varme lowered the amount they requested in support from the EU. The application was reduced from DKK 2.9 billion to DKK 1.8 billion. They did this to increase their chances.
This summer, the government and its owners attempted a charm offensive against the EU. Then they sent three letters saying that they would raise the rest of the money if the EU said yes.
This to little use.
Oslo Municipality and the Finnish state-owned power company Fortum each own 50 percent of Fortum Oslo Varme.