– A total lack of prioritization of the most important tasks, says Frp leader Sylvi Listhaug. And not enough of that. The Progressive Party believes the Conservative Party has gone behind their backs to secure support for carbon capture at the waste incineration plant at Klemetsrud. Present cut budget The background is this: On Wednesday last week, Oslo City Council presented its proposed budget. Oslo must save billions and make cuts in all sectors. In order to get the economic horse cure adopted in the city council, the Conservatives and Liberals must have the support of budget partner Frp. FRP group leader Magnus Birkelund was not satisfied. He had expected far greater changes with a new city council at the helm. Went out together with Ap But it is the news the next day that has caused Frp to turn on all the plugs. The city council then put forward a new plan to get the carbon capture project back on track. The project will cost the municipality of Oslo billions, either directly or through the municipality’s energy companies. But now it was not the city council’s “permanent partner” who was on the team. Instead, the main opponent was the Labor Party. Namely, it was Høyre, Venstre and Ap that on the same day stood up in VG and boasted of the agreement. BUDGET THREAT: FRP group leader Magnus Birkelund believes that the autumn’s budget negotiations have gotten off to a bad start. Photo: Bård Nafstad / news – It’s absolutely incredible, says Magnus Birkelund. – Now, for several months, we have heard how badly the municipality can afford it. Then a budget is presented in which there is a very small cut in property tax, no investment in care for the elderly, and the deterioration of road maintenance continues. – The next day, a billion-dollar plan is presented together with the Labor Party. We take that very seriously, says Frp’s city councilor. – Has gone behind the back Party leader Sylvi Listhaug says this: SYMBOL MEASURES: FRP leader Sylvi Listhaug does not understand why Oslo should have tougher climate targets than the rest of the country. Photo: Bård Nafstad / news – It looks like they have gone behind the back of the Progressive Party locally. They have tried to convince people that Oslo lacks money. – Then 2.6 billion appears that they want to borrow for this project plus Hafslund, which is fully owned by Oslo municipality, will step in with many, many billions, says Listhaug. The FRP’s willingness to secure a majority for the Oslo budget has thus fallen several notches. – The Progressive Party will take up this matter internally, but this is a very bad start to the negotiations, says Magnus Birkelund. – Not more expensive for Oslo That the FRP is against carbon capture is nothing new. Nor that a majority in Oslo is in favor. According to the party, the new thing is the tighter economic times – with the joint action with the Labor Party fueling the fire. City council leader Eirik Lae Solberg (H) does not agree with the criticism. He says that this is a project that has been worked on for many years. – What we are doing now is entering into a new agreement with the state and industrial players about carbon capture at Klemetsrud. – This does not mean that Oslo municipality is putting new money on the table. KLEMETSRUD: The district heating company Hafslund Oslo Celsio owns and operates the Klemetsrud plant, where the carbon capture will take place. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news 4 billion more expensive The new agreement is the result of a year and a half of thinking. Last spring it became clear that the carbon capture would be much more expensive than the red-green city council thought in 2022. In 2022 it would cost NOK 5.5 billion. When Oslo now wants to go ahead with the project, the price tag has increased to NOK 9.5 billion. In other words, NOK 4 billion more. Of this, the idea is that the state pays NOK 2.5 billion, Oslo municipality NOK 2.6 billion and Hafslund Oslo Celsio NOK 4.3 billion. Hafslund Oslo Celsio (Celsio) is what was formerly called Fortum Oslo Varme. Celsio is Norway’s largest supplier of district heating. They own and operate the waste incineration plant at Klemetsrud. This is where the CO2 capture will take place. The plan is for Celsio to cover the cost gap beyond price increases. This will be done by borrowing money from main owner Hafslund. Hafslund is once again wholly owned by Oslo municipality. GARBAGE: At Klemetsrud, garbage is burned and used for district heating. In the future, it will be done without greenhouse gas emissions. Photo: Snorre Tønset / news The state demanded answers To show agreement together with Labor was necessary, explains Eirik Lae Solberg. The agreement is dependent on the Storting agreeing to the state standing up. – The state has demanded that a new plan and a new agreement be in place before 1 October, and that there is a majority behind this in Oslo City Council. – Is carbon capture at Klemetsrud more important than a budget settlement with the Progress Party? – I hope it is possible to achieve both, says the city council leader. CUTTING BUDGET: City council leader Eirik Lae Solberg presented a budget with major cuts last Wednesday, but maintains that carbon cleaning must be in place to cut emissions. Photo: Thomas Fure / NTB Part of Longship’s CO2 capture at Klemetsrud is a prerequisite for Oslo to reach the target of a 95 per cent emission cut in 2030. It is also an important part of “Longship”, the state’s investment in full-scale CO2 management. This is Longship Longship is the government’s investment in full-scale handling of CO₂ from industrial sources. This will be done through carbon capture and storage, also called CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage). The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Two companies have been selected to participate: the Heidelberg Materials cement factory in Brevik (formerly Norcem) and Hafslund Oslo Celsio’s waste incineration plant at Klemetsrud. CO₂ will be captured, liquefied and transported by ship to an intermediate storage facility in Øygarden northwest of Bergen. It will then be pumped through pipes onto the shelf in the North Sea, where it will be stored 2,600 meters below the seabed. The facility in Brevik will be ready towards the end of 2024, in Oslo in 2029. The overall cost estimate is approximately NOK 30 billion. The state’s share is approximately NOK 20 billion. Source: regjeringen.no/news The latest cost estimate is around NOK 30 billion. The state’s share is estimated at around 20 per cent. Frp is against: – If such a project is to be realized, it is the market that must do it. We are against large giant projects where the state wastes enormous sums of taxpayers’ money, whether it is CO2 capture and storage, battery factories or offshore wind, says Sylvi Listhaug. Published 01.10.2024, at 06.28
ttn-69
– Has gone behind our backs – Greater Oslo
