Belgium to connect to Norway with CO2 pipeline

The Belgian government wants to conclude an agreement with Norway on a CO2 pipeline that connects Belgium to the Norwegian CO2 storage facilities. That is what the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo (Open Vld) discussed with his Norwegian colleague Jonas Gahr Støre during their visit to the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Ghent. Ghent already has ambitious plans to capture and store CO2.

De Croo and Støre consulted on the matter, together with a consortium of companies. They talked about the transition of our industry to a carbon-neutral future. CO2 produced in Belgium would be captured and transported via a long pipeline to the empty gas fields off the coast of Norway.

North Sea Summit

On Monday, April 24th, a nine-country coalition gathered in Ostend for the North Sea Summit, where they made plans to transform the North Sea into a green power plant. The nine countries involved are Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, and Denmark.

European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre have signed a cooperation agreement that commits the European Union and Norway to coordinate their climate policies.

Shared ambitions

The agreement includes a number of commitments, with Brussels and Norway, promising to work together to combat climate change. Together, they want to tackle biodiversity loss, support the green transition of industry, and decarbonize the transport sector.

“Norway has always been a reliable partner of the EU, and we share the ambition to make the continent climate neutral,” von der Leyen said. “We want our communities and economies to prosper together while reducing emissions, protecting nature, decarbonizing our energy supplies, and greening our industries.”