In a written reply to the Storting, Minister of Industry Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) wrote that power from land is not necessarily an “expedient solution” and that it is the government’s “primary goal” that the power comes from another place. He points out that power from shore “involves large investments” and there are “large variations” in the gain from supplying the platforms with power from shore. To this the minister replies – Power from shore involves large investments, and there are large variations in both technical possibilities, costs and the potential for emission reductions linked to supplying various facilities and land plants with power from shore. Power from shore will therefore not be an expedient solution in all cases and something the government will also assess on a case-by-case basis. The government’s primary goal is that the power that is used to electrify production on the continental shelf must also be produced on the continental shelf, which will probably be possible to a much greater extent in a relatively short time. Full answer here. The idea of electrifying the shelf is the main strategy to halve emissions on the shelf by 2030. In total, the plan is estimated to cost up to 15 TWh. According to Dagens Næringsliv, electrification will require 5.1 TWh before the end of 2023. Rasmus Hansson in MDG calls the signal from the government “startling”. – This indicates that the government is moving away from the unilateral demand to electrify the Norwegian continental shelf, he says. – This is a strong and long-awaited signal from the government. We can’t waste land power needed for households, industry and restructuring on greenwashing the oil, says Frode Pleym in Greenpeace. Facts about electrification The oil and gas installations on the Norwegian continental shelf emit approximately 13 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. Over 160 gas turbines that are used to produce power on the platforms together with flaring make up 84.6 per cent of the total CO₂ emissions on the Norwegian continental shelf. In 2018, the petroleum industry on the Norwegian continental shelf accounted for around 28 per cent of Norway’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The operators on the shelf pay a fee on the discharge. In addition to climate quotas, the operators also have to pay their own fee of around NOK 500 per tonne. The Johan Sverdrup field has 0.67 kg CO₂ emissions per barrel, compared with the average of 9 kilos. In the report Power from land (2020) it is stated that “an important prerequisite for this (electrification) to be carried out is that the power system on land can handle the increase in consumption, without affecting the security of supply to existing customers”. It has been decided that 16 platforms will receive power from shore. This will reduce emissions by 3.2 million tonnes of CO₂. Until 2030, the target is a cut of between six and 7 million tonnes a year. In 2020, there were eight fields on the Norwegian continental shelf receiving power from the Norwegian power grid: Troll A, Gjøa, Ormen Lange, Valhall, Goliat, Johan Sverdrup, Vega and Hod. After the start-up in 2021, Martin Linge received power from land. According to the plan, Edvard Grieg, Ivar Aasen, Gina Krog, Solveig and Hanz will receive power from the area solution on Utsirahøyden through the second construction stage of the Johan Sverdrup field. The fields Duva and the newly started Nova will be operated with power from land via Gjøa. Sources: Equinor, Bellona, Enerwe, University of Bergen In total, it has been decided that 16 platforms will receive power from shore, which will reduce emissions by 3.2 million tonnes of CO₂. Today, 28 percent of the national emissions come from the continental shelf. Photo: Marit Hommedal / NTB scanpix – The government must follow up on the new signals – Electrification of the shelf is a bad idea with two poorly documented environmental effects. It is good if Vestre agrees on that, says Sveinung Stensland from Høgre. Rogaland Høgre decided last year that they “will have a new review of the electrification of the shelf”. – This is a welcome signal from Vestre. Sending Norwegian electricity onto the continental shelf is extremely bad environmental policy, says municipal councilor in Stavanger, John Peter Hernes. – The government must follow up these new signals immediately Frode Pleym, Greenpeace – This is very good and a strong and long-awaited signal from the minister and the government. Renewable energy is a public good, and may become scarce in the future. As a society, we cannot waste land energy needed for households, industry and restructuring on greenwashing the oil. The oil industry, like everyone else, is obliged to cut emissions. They must of course foot the bill for that themselves, not pass it on to the taxpayers. Electrification with our own offshore wind is one of the measures, preferably in combination with shutting down the most polluting fields on the shelf. It will reduce emissions like a real monster. Ola Elvestuen, Venstre – The government must quickly show that there is real content in what Vestre wrote, and make demands on the petroleum industry that they must solve their emission problems with their own technology to a much greater extent. Carbon capture and storage is a well-known available technology. All discharges cannot be cut with power from land because it would require too much new renewable energy. Especially on Melkøya and in the fields outside Western Norway, the government must demand that the industry uses carbon capture and storage to cut greenhouse gas emissions. It is crucial that the government follows up on these new signals immediately. It will be meaningless if the government decides this spring that Equinor can use up all the power surplus in northern Norway to electrify Melkøya when carbon capture and storage is an available and cost-effective alternative. Terje Halleland, FRP – The Progress Party has tried to stop the measure in the Storting a number of times, but unfortunately is voted down. There is nothing to suggest that Ap/Sp is turning things around and has suddenly decided to take electricity customers, industry and taxpayers seriously. And when the MDG wants to stop electrification, it is of course connected with the fact that they will turn off the lights on the Norwegian continental shelf anyway, without and apparently having any thought that this will weaken Norwegian energy power, strengthen Russia and other bandit states, increase global emissions and send hundreds of thousands of hard-working people out of work. Lars Haltbrekken, SV – The oil companies must be ordered to cut emissions by using offshore wind, which they themselves develop and pay for. Ove Trellevik, Høgre – According to the Hurdals platform, the government wants to electrify as much as possible of the shelf with offshore wind. Here, the government’s investment is running late, and if they do not pick up speed, they will have to use more power from land than necessary. We believe that electrification of the shelf must be assessed from field to field, and that depends on access to power. Sigrun Aasland, Zero – We must electrify the shelf in order to meet Norwegian emission targets. We can and must do it with offshore wind and the government has several good solutions on the table. I interpret Vestre as meaning that the government will ensure that Trollvind and other projects with direct electrification with offshore wind actually come into place. Rasmus Hansson urges the government to “come completely out of the closet” and make it clear that the oil industry itself must take responsibility for cutting its emissions. Not with power from land, but with the help of offshore electrification (offshore wind) and carbon capture. He adds: – Then mainland Norway suddenly has 10–15 TWh more available. It saves a lot of nature and can create a lot of green business. Rasmus Hansson in MDG refers to the latest signals from the government as “startling”. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Report: Electrification of the continental shelf has a massive climate effect Offshore Norway, which is the interest organization for companies on the Norwegian continental shelf, presented a report in January on the climate effect of electrifying the oil and gas sector. The conclusion was that electrification not only has a positive impact on the Norwegian accounts, but also provides European climate benefits. In the main conclusion, it is stated that “deletion of quotas and further tightening of the quota ceiling” means that Norwegian cuts have an impact on European level with an effect of 80 per cent. Offshore Norway answers Benedicte Solaas, director of climate and environment in Offshore Norway – We assume that the Hurdal platform is fixed and the government has been clear that they support further electrification of oil and gas fields, while at the same time sufficient renewable power must be ensured. We must work together to solve the demanding power situation. Offshore wind is part of the solution, but we must have a greater pace of development. The industry has taken the signals from the politicians seriously and is, among other things, looking at the possibility of floating offshore wind in the Troll area. The decision rests with the government. The electrification projects that are being planned are consistently more affordable than many of the measures in other sectors in Norway and are both economically and socially profitable. Each individual project is assessed separately according to expectations of the future carbon price, the power situation and the lifetime of the field before it is decided to electrify. It will nevertheless be both more difficult and more expensive to meet Norwegian climate targets without electrification. Electrification of Norwegian oil and gas installations and land plants accounts for around 20 percent of the emission reductions necessary to reach Norway’s climate goals in 2030. The industry also contributed to developing several of the new value chains such as carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and offshore wind that the government wants bet on through its green industry promise. These value chains will be important for reaching Norwegian and European climate targets in 2050. At the same time, the idea of electrifying the continental shelf has become more controversial. Behind the change in mood are power shortages and pressure on transmission capacity, but also more fundamental doubts about how useful electrification is. Symbolized by a letter from 2021 in which the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED) acknowledges that “the effect on global emissions of increased use of power from land is uncertain”. Faktisk.no: “Electrification can cut Norwegian climate emissions, but the global effect is more controversial.” Others claim that electrification only gives “paper profit” since the gas that is “saved” is burned elsewhere. The reasoning is based on the fact that the Norwegian shelf is covered by the quota system in the EU, and that Norwegian cuts are “zeroed out” of emissions on the continent. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland, for his part, has reiterated that he “stands firm on the target” in the Hurdal platform, where it is stated that the government must ensure further electrification of the shelf, but “to the greatest extent possible with offshore wind”. Terje Lien Aasland (Ap), Heikki Holmås (SV) and Jon Evang from the environmental foundation Zero celebrated the decision to electrify the Utsira hill with a cake in 2014. Photo: Marte Christensen / NTB scanpix NVE has seven applications for electrification on the table As of today, the eight fields on the Norwegian continental shelf that receive power from the Norwegian power grid. In addition, NVE has seven applications for the electrification of oil fields and petroleum facilities on the table. Among these is the disputed Wisting field in the Barents Sea. Last year, it was decided to lay a power cable to the Wisting field after Equinor explained that there was not enough gas in the reservoir to supply the field with its own power. The project has been characterized as “an environmental bomb” and has created a rift between the budget partners Labor and SV.
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The government is uncertain about the gains from electrifying the continental shelf – news Vestland
