Norway’s government has at last filed a motion to get the country’s parliament to fund a 5.2-billion-kroner ($751 million) carbon-capture and storage research facility at Mongstad, the site of a refinery in the southwest of the country, where some CCS testing is already underway.

The government had long awaited European Union approval for such funding measures, and nod came last year from Brussels’ Competition Bureau.

A government communique called the motion in parliament a “milestone” and “decisive”, as CCS is the “cornerstone” of the government’s policy on climate change.

The government said its share of the research site is 80 percent, with stately oil champion StatoilHydro picking up 20 percent of the bill. Other companies are already part of a scheme in which government and big business’s money incubate the applied research work of a number of suppliers.

The big companies get to be first to take advantage of the fruits of research, while international technology suppliers with a lead in the research get to keep the patents.

It’s uncertain what pattern of research funding will unfold at the new facility.

Oil and Energy Minister Terje Riis-Johansen said it was important to secure political momentum ahead of an decision on exact investment amounts by April 2009.

The Norwegian government’s overseer, arm’s length company, Gassnova, hints that the building project will take two-and-half years to complete.

Judging by government statements, the site is expected to be part of the EU’s yearly framework research projects, where knowledge is shared by splitting up tasks among Europe’s researchers.

Tags: StatoilHydro