Norway grants $111 mln to clean hydrogen, ammonia projects
17/12/2021 08:33
OSLO, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Norway on Friday granted 1 billion
Norwegian crowns ($111 million) in support for three projects to
produce emissions-free hydrogen and ammonia, aiding a transition
to a low-carbon economy, the government said.
The funding will be allocated to projects led by Yara
YAR.OL , Tizir Titanium & Iron (TTI) and Horisont Energi
HRGI.OL , government agency Enova said in a statement.
"Hydrogen is now on everyone's lips in Europe as one of the
solutions to reach our climate goals. So Norway as an energy
nation needs to be there," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told
a news conference.
Yara said in a separate statement it would receive 283
million crowns for a pilot project to produce emissions-free
hydrogen and ammonia at its fertilizer factory at Heroeya in
Norway.
A project by Horisont Energi to produce emissions-free
ammonia, with carbon dioxide emissions captured and stored under
the seabed in the Barents Sea, will receive 482 million crowns,
the company said.
Norway's Equinor EQNR.OL and Eni's ENI.MI Norwegian
subsidiary Vaar Energi are partners in the Horisont Energi
project, called Barents Blue.
TTI's project, which will receive 261 million crowns, aims
to replace coal with hydrogen at its smelter in Tyssedal, which
produces titanium slag and high-purity iron, Enova said.
TTI is fully owned by France's Erament Group ERMT.PA .
Enova has a mandate to support new technology which could
help to transition Norway, western Europe's largest oil and gas
producer, to a low-emission society by 2050.
Today, most of the hydrogen in the world is produced from
natural gas, while associated carbon dioxide (CO2) is released
into the atmosphere.
Clean hydrogen could be produced by splitting water
molecules with the help of renewable energy, or by capturing and
storing associated CO2.
Norway is a major producer of both renewable power and
natural gas.
($1 = 8.9916 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis and Nora Buli
Editing by Mark Potter)
((nerijus.adomaitis@thomsonreuters.com; +47 9027 6699; Reuters
Messaging: nerijus.adomaitis.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))