Britain and Norway will launch a new Green Industrial Partnership on Monday, as the two countries seek closer co-operation across a range of sectors, particularly those related to clean energy projects and innovations.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit a carbon transport and storage facility in Norway to witness first-hand how such projects can regenerate industrial heartlands in the UK, leading to job creation and a boost to the economy. The UK and Norway have a long-standing relationship in the energy sector, with Norway being one of the largest supplies of natural gas to Britain. It’s hoped the Green Industrial Partnership will be signed in the spring of 2025.
“This Green Industrial Partnership will allow us to seize the opportunities from a new era of clean energy, driving investment into the UK and boosting jobs both now and in the future,” Mr Starmer said. “It will harness the UK’s unique potential to become a world-leader in carbon capture – from the North Sea to the coastal south – reigniting industrial heartlands and delivering on our Plan for Change.
“Our partnership with Norway will make the UK more energy secure, ensuring we are never again exposed to international energy price spikes and the whims of dictators like Putin,” he added.
In addition to the launch of the Green Industrial Partnership, the UK and Norway will also expand their work on developing the North Sea as a hub for carbon storage and the development of a bilateral arrangement for transporting CO2 across each others’ borders under the London Protocol, an environmental treaty that deals with the sea transport of CO2 and other substances.
Along with Norway, the UK is aiming to become a world leader in CCUS, and has set aside £21.7 billion of funding over the next 25 years, which will be allocated to carbon capture and storage projects, as well as the development of hydrogen as an alternative energy source.
“We work closely with the UK in a wide range of areas,” Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said. “We have co-operated in the field of carbon capture and storage for more than 20 years, and further strengthening our co-operation with the UK will help us to cut emissions and create green jobs. It is important to show our partners what Norway can bring to the table in our joint efforts to achieve our common goals.”
The launch comes just days after the government signed the first carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) contracts in the UK. The Northern Endurance Partnership and the Net Zero Teesside projects involve BP and the Norwegian Equinor and it’s predicted the schemes will create thousands of skilled jobs in the north of England and deliver clean energy to one million UK homes within the next three years.
In addition, collaboration between Norwegian company Vårgrønn and UK firm Flotation Energy continues apace with the announcement of front-end engineering and design contracts at the pairs’ joint venture floating offshore wind farm Green Volt. Located off the north-east coast of Scotland, Green Volt is the first major commercial floating wind development in Europe.
Last week, the Norwegian clean energy company Statkraft broke ground on the Swansea Greener Grid Park in Wales, a £70 million project that will use low carbon technology to improve grid stability and reduce the need to use fossil fuel power plants. Statkraft has already completed two similar projects in the UK and invested £1.4 billion in Britain’s broader renewable energy infrastructure.
