Norway's parliament on Thursday rejected a proposal to block Equinor's plan to supply electricity to its Hammerfest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant from the region's power grid, allowing the ongoing development to
Norway's parliament on Thursday rejected a proposal to block Equinor's plan to supply electricity to its Hammerfest liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant from the region's power grid, allowing the ongoing development to continue.
Opposition parties had sought to revoke the LNG plant's planned link to the power grid, but the motion failed when the Socialist Party withdrew its support for the plan, calling it "in practice unlawful".
A total of 48 members of parliament, known as the Storting, backed the opposition's proposal while 54 voted against.
"For Equinor and our partners, it is crucial to be able to trust the authorities' decisions," Equinor CEO Anders Opedal said in an emailed statement to Reuters following the vote.
"It is therefore good that the Storting has not made new decisions that are intended to intervene in an ongoing industrial project," he said.
Any such intervention would "be destructive of the trust and predictability that is necessary for long-term investments" not just for Equinor but all of Norwegian industry, Opedal added.
The government approved the connection in 2023 to cut greenhouse gas emissions at the plant on Melkoeya island off Hammerfest and extend its lifetime.
Critics say hooking up the currently gas-driven plant
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
