Highest Carbon Tax in Oil Nation Prods Statoil to Try #Batwind - Bloomberg
▻http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-19/highest-carbon-tax-in-oil-nation-prods-statoil-to-try-batwind
The highest carbon tax in an oil producing nation has persuaded Norway’s state-owned driller to experiment with batteries and wind turbines as an alternative for supplying electricity to offshore rigs.
Statoil ASA is planning to park its floating Hywind turbines next to rigs, using lithium-ion batteries to store energy for times when the wind isn’t blowing, said Stephen Bull, a senior vice president overseeing the work. If it succeeds, the technology may spread to the fish-farming industry, which also has big offshore electricity needs.
The project dubbed “Batwind” is an example of innovation that governments are hoping to encourage by putting a price on the pollution that causes global warming. Norway charges as much as 436 krone ($53) per metric ton of carbon emitted for fossil fuels extracted on its continental shelf, 10 times the price of certificates in the European Union’s offset market.
It’s the “financial upside” that’s making the project more attractive financially, Bull said, whose company wants to be the world’s greenest fossil-fuel producer. “When you look at the platforms and you look at the exposure we have for power and carbon dioxide, it’s considerable.”
