Mundus Nordic Green News – 4 December, 2020

Denmark to end all new North Sea oil and gas exploration

A broad majority in the Folketing (Social Democrats, the Radicals, the Socialist People's Party, the Liberal Party, the Conservatives and the Danish People's Party) decided late Thursday evening that no more new permits will be granted to search for new oil and gas in the Danish North Sea, and that from 2050 the fossil activities will be completely finished.

 

Denmark started extracting oil, then gas, in the North Sea in 1972. Since then, the tax revenue has been a cornerstone in building and maintaining the country’s welfare state.

“We will now follow a different path,” Dan Jorgensen, Danish minister for climate, energy and utilities, told the Financial Times. To DR.dk he said “We are the EU's largest oil producer, and therefore it will resonate around the world. The agreement still allows for a few new wells if they are connected to an already active drilling area. Here, however, it also applies that the activities must stop in 2050.”

“This is a watershed moment,” said Helene Hagel, head of climate and environmental policy at Greenpeace Denmark. “The country can assert itself as a green frontrunner and inspire other countries to end our dependence on climate-wrecking fossil fuels.”

 

Equinor sells Doggerbank share to Eni for NOK 2.4 billion

Equinor announced in a press release that it had sold 10% of the holdings in the offshore wind farms Dogger Bank A and B, to Eni for GBP 202.5 million pounds, Equinor’s third divestment in offshore wind power in three years. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2021. Afterwards, the shareholding in the project will be 40% each to SSE and Equinor and 20% to Eni. Pål Eitrheim, Head of New Energy Solutions for Equinor remarked, “Once again, we have demonstrated Equinor's ability to create value from renewable projects. The divestment is in line with our strategy. We gain access to attractive surfaces early and on a large scale and then use our technology and experience to mature and reduce the risk of projects”.

 

The developers of Doggerbank have selected the world's largest turbine, American GE's Haliade-X of 13MW. Electricity from Doggerbank will be sold on 15-year agreements. Denmark’s Ørsted will buy 40% of the electricity, while Shell will buy 20%. Equinor also buys 20% of the electricity through the subsidiary Danske Commodities, and SSE will buy the remaining 20%.

 

Equinor and SINTEF strengthen their collaboration

SINTEF, an independent research organization founded in 1950 that conducts contract research and development projects, is Equinor's largest R&D partner. Now the companies have entered into a strategic cooperation agreement so that the companies can exchange and further develop ideas, radical solutions and collaborate on projects that can provide good value creation and contribute to Equinor's transition to a broad energy company.

 

One area of cooperation that is already well underway is in offshore wind, with the main focus on floating wind. Equinor has already built the world's first floating wind farm, Hywind Scotland, and  is in the process of building Norway's first floating wind farm, Hywind Tampen. The other three areas of cooperation are:  

• Marine systems which includes challenges related to marine structures anchoring risers and pipelines underwater technology underwater robotics safety and the environment.
• Energy systems in connection with the development of renewable energy, including  methods for  storing renewable energy.
• Modelling

 

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