The national meeting of the Center Party decided at the weekend that they will stop the plans to electrify Melkøya with land-based electricity. In the decision, which split the Center party leadership, the “stream rebels” state that the application to Equinor to electrify the LNG factory on Melkøya “must be rejected”. – The decision is the hook in the door for Equinor’s plans, writes Nordlys in the leadership position. news has been in contact with several people who speculate that the decision could create new political dynamics in the disputed plans. – When the party leadership in the Center Party now has a clear marching order, I expect that they will also vote for our proposal in the Storting, says Terje Halleland (Frp). The proposal to “stop and postpone the electrification project” will be sent from the Energy and Environment Committee to the Storting next week. – Little reason to believe that Aasland will give the green light. Halleland further claims that Ola Borten Moe, who led the resolution committee in Sp, has given “unclear feedback” about how the Center Party will follow up the national assembly decision in practice. – It is very unfortunate out of consideration for both electricity customers and industrial companies in the north who deserve a final clarification from the government, he says. In VG, Borten Moe has stated that the decision does not apply “if the development of infrastructure up to Hammerfest releases new energy resources that can be harvested and fed into the grid.” – It is an open question whether it was easy to do, he says to the newspaper. “After the decision at the Sp national meeting, there is little reason to believe that Aasland will give the green light. In that case, the Labor Party will have to run over government partners the Center Party in a matter where there is also great opposition within its own ranks in Northern Norway,” writes Anders Bjartnes, who is editor of Energi og Klima. In the Storting, the Liberal Party has submitted a proposal that emission cuts on Melkøya must be taken with carbon capture instead of electrification. SV has promoted the same wish. Kjell Ingolf Ropstad in KrF says to news that he “expects” that the government will now work out other alternatives to electrify Melkøya. – The Fosen verdict and the scarcity of power have seen the entire electrification of Melkøya in a new light. Then we must have better analyzes of carbon sequestration than we have today, he says. In VG, Ola Borten Moe has stated that the decision does not apply “if the development of infrastructure up to Hammerfest releases new energy resources that can be harvested and fed into the grid.” Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / news – Put pressure on the government to say no Equinor has said several times that there is no space for a carbon capture plant on Melkøya, and that it will be too expensive. Equinor answers Gisle Ledel Johannessen, Equinor – After nine years of studies, analyzes and project development, the Snøhvit partners have delivered a plan for how we will invest over NOK 13 billion to further develop Hammerfest LNG towards 2050. The project has been developed in accordance with requirements from PUD in 2002 and requirements for emission reductions from the industry by 2030. The project will create great activity, employment and ripple effects for several years. This is in addition to maintaining and carrying on around 500 industrial workplaces and major knock-on effects from operations each year. The plans that have been presented to the governing authorities will maintain important gas deliveries to Europe from the north, while at the same time removing large emissions. Electrification of HLNG is decisive for achieving emission reductions in line with Norway and the climate target in the industry. The measure has a reasonable economy and will contribute to creating great value and ripple effects for several decades. We are now waiting for the authorities to process our development plans for Hammerfest LNG. The question of Melkøya is initially to be dealt with in the government, but representatives from various parties have objected that the matter is of such great national importance that it should go to the Storting for consideration. Storting representative for Raudt, Sofie Marhaug, says that the turn during the national meeting to Sp was “the one point where the leadership failed to keep the delegates in their saddles” and that the new decision “hopefully puts pressure on the government to say no” to the plans. – I am very excited about whether it will have any effect on the Storting or in the government. It’s not good to say, she says. Ove Trellevik in Høgre believes the only consequence is that it will now be “even less relevant for the government to take the matter to the Storting”. – Otherwise, I don’t think it will mean anything. It was known from before that there was great opposition in the Center Party, also among the representatives in the Storting. – The ministry must figure out the offshore wind alternative Sindre Østby Stub is the specialist responsible for energy at the Zero Environmental Foundation. – We believe that offshore wind in combination with large-scale investment in energy efficiency is an alternative that the ministry must work out. During the spring, NVE will come up with a proposal for a new offshore wind area, and Statnett is targeting Hammerfest as a suitable area for the onshore introduction of offshore wind, he says. He adds that energy efficiency is an “underrated measure” and that the Energy Commission shows that we can release about 100 MW of power in the grid north of Balsfjord towards 2030. – That is about a third of the expected consumption at Snøhvit. All over the country, industry is queuing up to connect to the power grid – many of them in Northern Norway Everything from fish farms, seafood production, electric car chargers and slaughterhouses to hydrogen production, charging facilities and data centers need enormous amounts of power Just in this region alone they need over 1400 megawatts That is equivalent to the same effect like 1.4 million of the panel oven you have at home on the wall
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New dispute over the electrification of Melkøya after a controversial Sp decision – news Vestland
