Starmer to announce new green energy deal to protect from ‘whims of dictators like Putin’

The prime minister is visiting Norway to launch a new green energy deal before attending a defence summit in Estonia.

Sir Keir Starmer will travel to a carbon capture and storage site today and meet his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store to discuss the new Green Industrial Partnership.

Number 10 said both leaders intend to sign the deal in spring 2025.

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Sir Keir said the energy partnership with Norway, which has a border with Russia, would help to boost growth and protect against spikes in international energy prices like those seen when President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

“It will harness the UK’s unique potential to become a world leader in carbon capture – from the North Sea to the coastal south – reigniting industrial heartlands and delivering on our plan for change,” he said.

“Our partnership with Norway will make the UK more energy secure, ensuring we are never again exposed to international energy price spikes and the whims of dictators like Putin.”

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The announcement comes days after Labour signed the first carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) contracts in the UK.

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Carbon capture is seen by some as a way of tackling climate change, by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it away.

Its critics, however, argue it allows big polluters to carry on polluting and it is much more efficient to simply reduce emissions in the first place.

The first major commercial floating wind development in Europe, based off the northeast coast of Scotland, also announced new contracts to progress the project.

It is estimated the plant, which is a joint venture between Norwegian Vargronn and UK firm Flotation Energy, will deliver power to about one million homes when it starts operating in 2028.

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Mr Gahr Store said: “We need cooperation, knowledge and innovation to better equip us to face the future.

“The partnership with the UK will be important to facilitate more green jobs both in Norway and the UK, and for advancing the green transition.”

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The prime minister’s whistlestop tour through Norway and Estonia will see him join leaders from the Netherlands, Latvia, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Lithuania to discuss security.

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Meanwhile, back in the UK, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey will meet their Australian counterparts in London to discuss shared security challenges.

They will discuss cooperation on issues including Ukraine, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.