When the government proposed a ground rent tax on onshore wind power in December, they indicated that the tax would apply from 2023.
However, the government emphasized that “the actual date will be assessed in the light of the recordings of the session”.
Six months later, the response from industry and opposition was so clear that the government postponed the tax.
Among the objections is that the proposal uses the spot price as the basis for calculating the tax, even though half of wind energy production today is sold through long-term power agreements. These are the agreements that often have a lower price than the spot rate.
– Finance Minister Trigev Slagsvold Widum (Sp) says we have to carefully assess the input of the advisory and legal bases before submitting a proposal to Parliament.
It is reported that the motive behind the proposal is to pump a greater part of value creation back into the host municipalities, but there are other considerations that speak of extending the scheme for one year. The tax could theoretically generate NOK 2.5 billion in revenue.
– Communities and society must receive a fair share of the values created from our common natural resources, says Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp).
Photo: Ismail Burke Akan/NRK
– This is a farce
The wind energy production tax has been doubled from 1 to 2 øre per kWh from January 1, 2023. This tax increase, which benefits host municipalities, will not be affected by the deferment of the ground rent tax.
– This is a travesty, says Nikolai Astrup, Hugrey’s energy policy spokesperson.
He explained that it was “good in solitude” to defer the land rent tax, but “we still don’t know anything about how the concessions will turn out”.
– This means wind companies will have to live with uncertainty about what frame conditions they will have to factor in for another six months, he says.
The Tax Commission, which submitted its report in December, recommends a land rent tax on wind power, but it must be ironed out first.
– It is very positive that this proposal has been postponed and that the proposal will be considered in parliament until the autumn, says Truls Wickholm, Director of Samfunnsbedriftene Energi (SBE).
Photo: Heiko Junge/NTB
– Now we can have an open hearing in Parliament
– It is rare to praise the government’s delay, but in this case it was really important. Instead of settling a new wind tax in the back room with SV as part of the revised budget, we can now have an open hearing in parliament, says Åslaug Haga, chair of Fornybar Noreg.
She believes the appointment provides the basis for a “broad political settlement that can last over time”, which does not “turn investors away from Norway”.
– We are already seeing this happen, and then it will be virtually impossible to develop the 40 TWh of new energy production that the Energy Commission says we need.
Recommendations to the Energy Commission on “more of everything, faster” have been criticized for being “overly ambitious” (also among its members).
in the auditory response that is presented in Internet newspaper The NVE director describes many of the Energy Commission’s goals as “unrealistic” and “improbable”.
When in September the government introduced a package for “better distribution of surplus natural resources”, it also introduced the so-called premium contribution.
The new “high price tax” said the energy industry must pay a 23 percent tax plus other taxes when energy is sold for more than 70 øre/kWh.
The government has since clarified that the “high price tax” is a temporary phenomenon.
– It is rare that we praise the government for delaying it, but in this case it really mattered, says Åslaug Haga, president of Fornybar Noreg.
Photo: Eric Hawkins/NRK
“Web specialist. Lifelong zombie maven. Coffee ninja. Hipster-friendly analyst.”
