The Norwegian government’s prestigious carbon capture project at Statoil’s Mongstad plant faces even more delays, this time over ongoing concerns about health risks.
The government informed Parliament in October that the new risks tied to the carbon capture process could further boost costs and mean more delays, but claimed a full report on the consequences would be delivered before Christmas.
Now the report itself has been delayed. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Riis-Johansen said more details on the project’s effects on the environment and health would be delivered “early next year.”
An aide to Riis-Johansen, who has been under intense criticism over the delays at Mongstad, told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) that “we need more time” to give the parliament “a good enough orientation on the C02 capture and use of aminer.”
Statoil’s 35-year-old refinery at Mongstad is being provided with power from a new gas power plant, both of which generate carbon emissions. Aker Clean Carbon and Alstom are to test out new technology for carbon capture at the adjacent technology center, due for completion next year. In the meantime, reports Aftenposten, the power plant is already spitting out large quantities of carbon emissions, which riles environmental groups frustrated over the project’s delays.
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