Norway
Policy and Legislation
The Norwegian Hydrogen Council was established in December 2005 and consists of representatives from industry, academia, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and government institutions. In December 2006, the Council presented its Action Plan to its two appointing ministries (Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and Ministry of Transport and Communications).
The Hydrogen Council has proposed a set of national milestones to ensure that Norway consolidates and strengthens its position as a visible international player in the hydrogen field.
The Hydrogen Council has furthermore outlined five different scenarios for a national hydrogen initiative. These vary greatly both in content and scope, from continuing our activities at the current level to a major Norwegian hydrogen initiative. The scenarios reflect the Hydrogen Council’s three most important priorities for such an initiative:
- Strengthening the mobility of researchers and Norwegian participation in international networks and forums.
- Increasing the financial support for demonstration activities.
- Increasing the financial support for R&D activities and the development of national test facilities.
The Hydrogen Council recommends that the funding for hydrogen activities be increased over three years (2008–2010).
Norway spends considerable resources on research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of hydrogen-related technologies. The public part of hydrogen research in Norway is financed through two research programs: RENERGI (energy) and NANOMAT (nanomaterials). The total amount spent on hydrogen RD&D was NOK 81 million (US$14.82 million) in 2008 and includes projects related to storage, hydrogen production, and transportation. The demonstration activities received NOK 21 million [US$3.56 million] of the budget.
For fuel cells, Norway spent NOK 24 million [US$3.36 million] in 2008. Of this amount, 11.5 million [US$1.95 million] was related to stationary applications, while 12.5 million [US$2.19 million] was related to mobile applications.
In total, approximately NOK 80 million [US$13.56 million] was be spent through the various instrumentalities in 2008 (NOK 30 million (US$5.66 million) from RENERGI [MPE], NOK 22 million (US$4.1 million) from RENERGI [MTL], NOK 3 million (US$508,000) from NANOMAT [MER], and NOK 14 million (US$2.6 million) from CLIMIT [MPE/Fund]. These are funds that may be applied for and do not include allocations to universities, university colleges, and institutes).
Total project funding to date:
- Fuel cells, €0.5 million (US$0.7 million)
- Production of hydrogen, €3.3 million (US$4.62 million)
- Hydrogen storage, €3.4 million (US$4.76 million)
- Hydrogen systems analysis, €2 million (US$ 2.8 million)
The Norwegian parliament has removed the registration fee for hydrogen-fuel-powered vehicles. Fuel cell hydrogen vehicles are exempted from annual taxes. All drivers of hydrogen-fuel-powered vehicles are also allowed to drive in the bus lanes and are also exempted from paying road tolls on public roads.