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Sunday 05.02.2012

Clean up your act, Melkøya is told

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority says StatoilHydro must cut emissions from its Melkøya gas plant on the Barents Sea coast.

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority says StatoilHydro must cut emissions from its Melkøya gas plant on the Barents Sea coast, reports the Barents Observer.



At the same time, the Norwegian oil and gas company will increase staff in the project, Finnmark Dagblad reports.

StatoilHydro has experienced major technical problems with the Melkøya plant and greenhouse gas emissions from the plan have subsequently sky-rocketed.

Over six months of production, the plant emitted 1,6 million tonnes of CO2— more than two per cent of Norwegian emissions.

Now, the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority wants StatoilHydro takes to reduce the plant's emissions.

The company has been asked to present an assessment on the issue before August, a press release from SFT reads. The environmental watchdog wants StatoilHydro to look at CO2 capture and storage.

The plant opened production in August 2007. Since then StatoilHydro has been forced to close the plant for technical upgrades on several occasions.

Officials in Norway are under pressure to cut CO2 emissions. The government wants to cut emissions by 30 per cent from 1990-levels by year 2020.