Prime Minister, David Cameron has announced that major new business deals with Norway will create thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of investment in the UK energy sector.
In conjunction with Jens Stoltenberg, Cameron outlined how the two countries will work together to secure an affordable long-term gas supply, invest in oil and gas exploration and develop renewable technologies.
During a speech, Cameron described the delivery of enough sustainable energy to meet ever-increasing demand as “one of the most important challenges” facing both Norway and the UK.
Cameron continued: “Tomorrow we will take this vital relationship to the next level with a new UK-Norway energy partnership. This will mean more collaboration on affordable long-term gas supply, more reciprocal investment in oil and gas and renewables, and – underpinning all of this – a set of major new business deals creating thousands of new jobs and adding billions to our economies.”
Cameron said the UK-Norway energy partnership was “a really visionary idea for the future”, which could lead to all sorts of innovatory developments.
“I hope that the deals that we will be announcing and the measures we will be taking together are likely to create over 1,500 jobs in the UK,” he said. “But as well as being about jobs, it's about secure supplies of energy and also making sure our energy supplies are long-term affordable.”
Amongst the various commercial announcements, were plans to develop the 9GW Dogger Bank offshore wind project off the East coast of Yorkshire which could require up to £30 billion of investment. It is estimated that the project could provide up to 10 percent of the UK’s electricity requirements.
Charles Hendry, UK Minister of State for Energy, added: “For many decades Norway has been one of our most trusted and valuable partners, working with us to develop North Sea resources that underpin our energy security.
“The investments and jobs announced today by British and Norwegian companies are a clear signal of the benefits of this partnership.”
