Norway and the Region of Flanders have joined forces to to work constructively on the rollout of low carbon technologies and accelerate the energy transition.

Norwegian Petroleum and Energy Minister Terje Aasland and Minister-President of the Government of Flanders Jan Jambon met in Oslo this week the discuss their partnership and the current crisis in Europe and the energy market after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy believes Norway can make an important contribution to the current situation in the energy market by maintaining the current high oil and gas production and continued high regularity throughout the gas supply chain.

Both Flanders and Norway have “high ambitions” for offshore wind energy and also believe a sustained focus on energy savings and an accelerated rollout of renewable energy is necessary.

In addition, the ministers see carbon capture and storage (CCS) as part of the climate solution – especially for energy-intensive industries – and want to continue the existing co-operation in the North Sea Basin Task Force.

They hope to conclude a bilateral agreement within the framework of the London protocol before the end of the year so that CO2 transport between Flanders and Norway can soon be a reality.

Flanders and Norway also share the same ambitions for hydrogen, with plans to implement various joint projects. One such project is ‘H2BE’ where Equinor, ENGIE and Fluxys are looking into the possibility of realising a 1GW low carbon hydrogen production facility in the Ghent port area in Flanders.