Overview
Norway and its Nordic neighbors are considered world leaders in the use of renewable energy, green technologies, and sustainable resource handling. Norway has accepted, matched, or exceeded international commitments to reduce emissions (including from carbon dioxide, sulfur, and NOX). Emissions of carbon dioxide has proven to be a challenge, given Norway’s role as a significant exporter of oil and gas, as the production itself is carbon intensive. The rest of society is already running mostly on clean hydropower, so there are few low-hanging fruits for steep reductions. The exception is the transportation sector, where Norway has taken a considerable lead with electrification.
Hydropower: Norway has considerable hydro resources and has over the past 100 years constructed more than 330 dams. A baseload of zero emission electric power creates good conditions for maintaining zero carbon emission in the entire value chain, including hydrogen, ammonia, production of batteries and metals as well as various modes of transportation. However, upgrades are needed.
Hydrogen and ammonia: A fast growing number of companies have entered the hydrogen business. The government has singled out hydrogen as a key strategy in the green shift, making available funding for R&D. Ammonia may become the clean fuel of choice by ship owners for deep sea shipping.
Batteries: A few giga factories are in the pipeline, with goals of sourcing cobalt, nickel, and other minerals from the region, or changing the composition in batteries to reduce the need to import rare earth minerals. With a very high demand per capita, Norway, together with allies, seek to reduce dependence from others in this value chain.
Wind Energy: Norway has set an ambitious goal to achieve 30 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040, positioning the country at the forefront of per capita renewable energy production. Land based wind developments have faced local opposition, but a tax regime rewarding local communities may help make permitting more attractive.
Electric vehicles: Because of generous incentives, around 90% of new passenger cars sold in the consumer market have fully electric drive trains. New regulations for the procurement of vehicles for road transport entered into force this year. The government expects no or very few gasoline cars to be sold after 2025. These high ambitions also translate to sea travel and aviation. The fleet of 200+ ferries are becoming zero emission. The regional airline Wideroe seeks to electrify its entire fleet within 2028.
Next generation agriculture: Next-gen agriculture requires sustainable tech and novel farming methods to cut emissions, preserve soil quality, and safeguard biodiversity. Supported by government initiatives and funding, new business models rely on cross-border partnerships to innovate and expand. Given high labor expenses in Norway, automation yields substantial ROI.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): Norway considers CCS a high priority and has played an important role in the development of CCUS technologies. In close collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, Norway has funded a range of carbon capture technologies at Test Center Mongstad (TSM), and concepts are now ripe for scaling globally. A cement factory (Heidelberg, Heroya) is among the first capture sites, and others will follow. Norway has also funded a carbon storage reservoir under the seabed in the North Sea, with connected infrastructure on the coast, a concept called “Longship”. The site be operational in 2024 with a storage capacity of up to 1.5 million tons of CO2 per year. Business models needs to mature, which may be an opportunity for U.S. technologies and concepts with proven ROI.
Sustainable fuels: Norway has a total of 765 million m3 of forest, with an annual contribution of 25 million m3 - about 47% of Norway’s landmass. This has hardly been utilized for fuels, so the demand for more sustainable and “advanced biofuels” is high. The Government owned airport operator Avinor suggests that residual products from forests could provide a basis for establishing large-scale fuel production and cover up to 30-40 per cent of fuel needs in Norwegian aviation. Norway is looking to Europe and the U.S. for developments for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), in need of scaling and lower prices. Also, seaweed and algae are other biomass sources widely explored, for energy, fish feed, fertilization, and other purposes. Developments of sustainable fuels require broad cross border collaboration.
Green buildings, infrastructure, transport: Smarter, more energy-efficient buildings have become a top priority in the development of smart cities. Authorities continually raise standards and requirements, emphasizing the importance of green and intelligent infrastructure that leverages AI technology. As part of a comprehensive plan to create a more sustainable society, authorities are also focusing on next-generation public transportation that offers seamless, autonomous door-to-door services, integrated with existing transportation networks (bus, rail, etc.). While some applications originate in Norway, most of the technology is acquired through trusted international partners. The United States offers valuable expertise in this field, but building effective partnerships can be complex. European cities are moving forward without waiting for the U.S. market to develop first, so vendors in this sector must proactively engage in this evolving landscape. Competition from Asia is significant.
Opportunities
To develop the technologies necessary to meet the twin challenges of energy security and climate change, the Norwegian Government believes that it must use both carrot and stick, involving taxes, incentives, subsidies, bans and government procurement, creating demand. U.S. companies have a lot to offer within maritime, engineering and energy applications.