Europe demands more power, but in “strong country” Norway, there is no more development planned than that we can barely cover our consumption.
Because with today’s development plans, Norway can Go from energy surplus to energy deficit In a few years, according to Statnett. In that case, we would become more dependent on imports via power cables to the rest of Europe for parts of the year.
Neither the Ministry of Oil and Energy nor the Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE) nor industry organization Energi Norge can provide VG with a comprehensive overview of how much power generation will actually be developed in Norway in the coming years.
the total . is produced About 155 TWh of electricity in Norway per year, while we use just under 140 TWh.
VG’s own review shows that while Europe is screaming for more electricity, there are a few new energy projects in Norway where the shovel has been put to the ground.
And even when you’ve gone a long way in planning, it can take a long time before utilities produce anything.
Water: the blueprints
numbers from NVE It states that developments have been applied for, approved, planned or initiated that could, in theory, increase hydropower production in Norway by 7.2 TWh in the next few years.
Norwegian hydroelectric power plants typically produce 138 TWh annually.
Thus, the planned developments represent an increase of 5.2 percent.
But a large proportion of these projects are still under study or not yet started. Some of them may never come true.
Wind: still
A number of projects and applications for wind energy development of several TWh are on hold. NVE has stopped processing new applications in the wake of several controversial projects in 2019 and municipalities I got a veto In April this year.
Sol: Few projects
Two new solar parks, which together will produce less than a terawatt-hour of electricity annually, were awarded a license in May and July. Few others planned.
– Infinite possibilities
The technical potential of wind and solar energy is practically unlimited, and the realization of wind on Earth is faster than hydroelectric power. But the projects must be in demand and must be well adapted to the surrounding environment, says Director of Renewable Energy Evind Heloy at Energi Norge.
Energi Norge regulates the majority of energy producers in Norway.
About 15 TWh of wind energy is produced on land in Norway, just over ten percent of the total energy.
You can achieve so much more in four or five years, says Heløe.
Hydropower: a bigger impact
Even if they do not produce massive amounts, some developments of hydropower produce a large change in effect, that is, the amount of electricity that can be produced rapidly during periods of the day when the demand is high. It’s also an important contribution, says Hiloy.
There are a number of environmental constraints on the development of hydropower. We still believe that more production can be expanded, which was previously not profitable. This is due to both the tax changes that took place last year and the permanent rise in electricity prices. We’re seeing, Heloy says, that some projects can now be done faster than expected.
new projects
There are also many projects with companies that have yet to be delivered to NVE. For example Lyses Five billion kroner investment in Røldal-Suldal. It is also possible that there will be new investment plans from several companies in the near future that are not on the NVE license queue.
– Heløe says simpler licensing processing by authorities can also help.
Lyse has to apply for a license next year and investments are planned over a period of up to 15 years.
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