Norway, Great Britain boost hydrogen cooperation with annex to CCS MoU

LONDON (ICIS)–Norway and Great Britain will cooperate more closely on hydrogen after an annex to the Norwegian-British memorandum of understanding (MoU) on carbon capture and storage (CCS) was signed between the two governments.

The annex affirms an extended cooperation between the authorities of the two countries to “regularly exchange knowledge and experience related to the use of low carbon hydrogen on production, transport and storage as well as on developing standards and certification” the Norwegian government said in a press release.

The annex is on top of the MoU on CCS that the two governments have had in place since 2018, in addition to the joint declaration signed in May 2022 which included topics such as offshore wind and climate change issues.

The UK is seeking to have 10GW of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, of which at least 5GW will be renewable hydrogen through the electrolysis process.

Low carbon hydrogen in the UK is set to be backed in the country as long as a 95% capture rate of the CO2 is achieved and the hydrogen produced meets the standard of 20gCO2e/MJ LHV hydrogen.

Norway as well has low carbon hydrogen as part of the country’s hydrogen strategy given its current gas industry as well as geological assets, and is seeking to store CO2 from other countries with the Longship project launched in September 2020.