Norway's parliament will on Thursday debate proposals to delay, or stop, a plan to electrify Western Europe's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, in the latest example of controversy over cutting CO2 emissions in the Nordic country.
Oil firm Equinor and partners are seeking approval to replace the use of gas at the plant with power from the national grid, and thus reduce its emissions. The site is one of Norway's largest single emitters of carbon dioxide.
But local residents reject the move, part of a scheme by Oslo to electrify big industrial sites to comply with the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. They are concerned the move would lead to a shortage of power as the plant would consume most of what is available, preventing the establishment of new industries, and thus job creation.
Sami indigenous herders are also worried the power masts needed to transport the power will be built on reindeer pastures. They say the sight and sound of the masts frighten their animals and disrupt age-old traditions.
With Norwegians heading to the polls in local elections later this year, the plan has become a top concern for voters and the opposition is seeking to capitalize on poor ratings for the minority center-left government.
Three opposition parties have filed motions including delaying and stopping the electrification of the site, or minimizing power use by continuing to use gas at the site but capturing the CO2 emissions and storing them underground (CCS). Parliament's energy committee has recommended a rejection of all proposals.
However, the government lacks a majority and is dependent on votes from the opposition Socialist Left party. Early on Thursday, a fourth proposal asking the government to assess the viability of only using CCS at the site instead of power from land, appeared to have a majority in parliament. Equinor's partners at the plant are TotalEnergies , Wintershall Dea, Neptune Energy, and Norwegian-state owned firm Petoro.
(Reuters - Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Gwladys Fouche and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)