Criticism has poured in after the Støre government last week gave Equinor the go-ahead to electrify the gas plant on Melkøya outside Hammerfest by 2030. With power from shore. The plant on Melkøya is currently powered by a gas-fired power plant, which accounts for the third largest single emission of carbon dioxide per year in Norway. But Støre and Vedum’s attempt to sell the electrification of Melkøya as a wise climate choice falls on rocky ground in northern Norway, a recent opinion poll shows. Facts about the survey: Conducted by InFact AS Population Nordland County, residents +18 years of age Number of interviews 1,073 Weighting Gender, age, party choice 2021 Margin of error From +/- 0.2 – 2.6%- points political barometer applies Method InFact automatic telephone interviews Period 17 .August 2023 Two out of three of those asked in the opinion poll answer no. Only around 15 percent are in favor. This is how the opposition is divided between Nordland, Troms and Finnmark: In Nordland, 59 per cent of those questioned in the poll answered that electrification is a bad idea. Only 17 percent answered yes to electrification. – The message got out wrong County council leader Elin Dahlseng Eide (Ap) is not surprised that two out of three northerners are negative about the climate initiative. – But it was a high number, that was it. What is important for me to clarify is that the power that will be used to electrify Melkøya will be extracted and created in Finnmark. Eide reassures people in the north that there will not be less power for either industry or private individuals in the region, as many fear. – They are the ones we work for. The prerequisite for electrifying Melkøya is that it should not affect other industries. County council leader Elin Dahlseng Eide is not surprised by the great opposition. She believes that all the power required for this project will not be spent on other businesses. Photo: ThorWiggo Skille Party colleague Odd Arnold Skogsholm (Ap) on the county council in Nordland believes the Melkøya case came out wrong. – You didn’t get the whole message out. Electrification of Melkøya is really a power package for Northern Norway. And in this part of the country we need more power. The project also states that the gas turbines will not be turned off until more power has been built in Finnmark. Center party strongly back Today there is red-green cooperation in the county councils in Northern Norway. In news’s recent opinion poll in the northern Norwegian counties, the Center Party is falling sharply. The Melkøya case has not exactly helped the mood. The Center Party has a national meeting resolution which states that they are against electrification with electricity from the current grid. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum and Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland at the Melkøya press conference last week. Photo: Mads Rønning / news Local politicians in the Center Party have expressed that the case has ruined the election campaign. On Thursday, the Center Party in Karasjok informed party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum that he is not wanted by them. The local team wants to be visited by Per Olaf Lundteigen, who they believe is a “true SP politician who understands us in Northern Norway”. Conservative Party: – Plaster on the wound Storting representative Bård Ludvig Thorheim from the Conservative Party has another explanation for the enormous resistance in the north. – The major opposition is due to the fact that several tens of companies are already queuing up to get electricity. He believes that the challenge of electricity can be solved by the capacity in the electricity grid, which was reserved for Melkøya, can now be freed up for other projects. It will act as a plaster on the wound for people and industry in the north, Thorheim believes. – So that when it is now guaranteed that Melkøya will be replaced by another force, then it will become vacant. Then it must be made available to all the companies that are in the electricity queue.
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Two out of three in the north say no to the electrification of Melkøya – news Nordland
