The European Commission today announced its decision on applicants for the first call of the EU Innovation Fund. Fortum Oslo Varme's carbon capture project was not one of the projects approved for funding at this stage.
CCS director Jannicke Gerner Bjerkås said: “The decision clearly shows that the EU believes in CCS as a key climate technology. It is therefore surprising that the European Commission chose not to support our project. We have one of the best prepared projects for carbon capture in Europe, and a further postponement is challenging. We will now start reviewing the feedback received from the Innovation fund and will later consider whether we should apply for the second call for applications to the EU Innovation Fund.”
Victoria Marie Evensen, Vice Mayor for Business Development and Public Ownership in the City of Oslo, said: “I am disappointed by the rejection from the EU Innovation Fund. Carbon-neutral cities are a prerequisite for fulfilling the Paris Agreement, and to do this we must remove emissions from waste incineration. Fortum Oslo Varme's waste-to-energy plant can serve as a blueprint for other cities on how to do sustainable waste management. Now we have to look at other financing solutions.”
The project continues
“This will not put an end to carbon capture for waste incineration in Oslo, but without support from the EU, we must now look at alternative solutions to fully finance the project,” Gerner Bjerkås added.
Strong interest in Europe for waste management and net-zero solutions
Fortum Oslo Varme's carbon capture project is an integral part of the Norwegian CCS project Longship and has received a conditional commitment of NOK 3 billion from the Norwegian state, subject to securing the remaining funding from other sources.
Even if the EU reaches its ambitious targets for a circular economy with reuse and recycling, there will be an estimated 40 million tonnes of residual waste that must be dealt with by incineration, as the use of landfills will need to be almost completely phased out by 2035. There are therefore many existing and future waste-to-energy plants that would need CCS to cut their emissions.
Background
- The EU Innovation Fund has EUR 1 billion in the first call to support projects with cutting-edge technologies in renewable energy, energy-intensive industries, energy storage and carbon capture, use and storage. A total of 311 projects applied for funding in the first call.
- Fortum Oslo Varme is part of the Norwegian CCS project Longship.
- The Norwegian state contributes to the capture and storage of CO2 from Norcem cement factory, and transport and storage through the Northern Lights consortium, operated by Equinor, Shell and Total energies.
- Fortum Oslo Varme has previously been allocated NOK 3 billion in conditional support, subject to securing the additional funding from other sources.
- On 16 November, the European Commission announced that the EU Innovation Fund would not provide financing to Fortum Oslo Varme in its first round of applications.
For further questions:
• Jannicke Gerner Bjerkås, director of CCS, telephone: +47 905 63 094
• Truls E. A. Jemtland, Head of Communications, telephone +47 920 29 480