The Norwegian Government has submitted a proposal to Parliament for a new carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.

The total investment in ‘Longship’ is estimated at NOK17.1 billion (£1.4bn) and operating costs for 10 years at NOK8 billion (£0.67bn), totalling NOK25.1 billion (£2bn).

The government proposes to initially implement the  carbon capture technology at Norcem’s cement factory in Brevik.

Longship will also include the Northern Lights project, a joint venture between energy giants Equinor, Shell and Total, which will transport liquid CO2 from capture facilities to a terminal at Øygarden in Vestland County.

CO2 will be pumped from there through pipelines to reservoirs beneath the sea bottom.

The government said it would also finance a facility to capture emissions at a waste incineration plant in Oslo operated by Fortum, if the Finnish firm also finds external investment.

It would provide support worth NOK16.8 billion (£1.4bn) of the total cost of all projects.

Prime Minister Erna Solberg said: “Longship is a milestone in the government’s industry and climate efforts. The project will lead to emission cuts and facilitate the development of new technology and thus new jobs.”