Green energy partnership with Norway shows us that a successful path to Net Zero requires international collaboration

Nice to see PM Keir Starmer take some time to launch a new green energy deal in Norway before attending his defence summit in Estonia, further evidence of the Government’s ongoing commitment to our national green energy transition.

Our Prime Minister travelled to a carbon capture and storage site to discuss the new Green Industrial Partnership with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Store, a deal widely expected to be signed by the end of spring.

Much of the conversation, like the deal on which it was based, focused on the need to protect against sudden energy price rises resulting from overseas events beyond our control – such as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Our partnership with Norway will make the UK more energy secure, ensuring we are never again exposed to international energy price spikes and the whims of dictators like Putin,” the Prime Minister claimed.

His counterpart, Mr Gahr Store, called the partnership important for facilitating more green jobs both in Norway and the UK, and for advancing the green transition, adding that we need cooperation, knowledge and innovation to “better equip us to face the future”.

The move follows recent news that the development of wind farms will be made more straightforward under plans to grant ministers the final say on approving large, onshore wind farms, rather than leaving decisions to local councils.

Starmer claims the energy partnership with Norway will also help generate jobs and enable growth, something that can be seen in the development of Europe’s first major commercial floating wind development on the northeast coast of Scotland. The plant, a collaboration between UK firm Flotation Energy and Norway’s Vargronn, will power a million homes when it goes live in 2028.

Labour’s Clean Power 2030 goals set our offshore wind energy generating capacity at 50GW within six years, triple the 14.8GW we’ve already taken two decades to provide. Even with developments in technology and infrastructure, it’s a huge task.

Other large-scale Net Zero projects include the recently announced first carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) contracts in the UK, which Starmer said demonstrate the UK’s “unique potential to become a world leader in carbon capture, reigniting industrial heartlands and delivering on our plan for change”.

Our path to Net Zero is an ambitious one, and the cause of much disdain and consternation for those unable to act on it, but as a nation we have to swing for the bleachers – the risks of reduced ambition are simply too high.

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