The people of Trønder are starting to receive significant electricity prices. An energy analyst says the reason is massive exports from northern Norway and the south.
But prices in central Norway are still much lower than in the south.
First of all At the end of November It started to pull to trenders. On November 30, they had to pay more than 400 øre per kilowatt hour.
On Monday, the price in central Norway was 207.76 øre and on Tuesday 191.52. Southeast Norway prices are 290.78 and 346.80 respectively. Excluding taxes and fees.
– So far this year, northern Norway has exported 10 terawatt hours to the south either directly or via Sweden. Much of this is exported to Europe via southern Norway, Value Insight’s head of analysis Tor Rier Lilleholt tells VG.
Five times
By comparison, Lillyhold says 2 terawatt hours have left the region in 2021 and 2020.
– have exported five times more than they did in the last two years. The value of water becomes more visible when it is very cold after draining the reservoirs to normal level. They export as much as they can by all means, Lilleholt says. He expects magazines to run out even faster in the next two to three weeks.
Colder weather is still expected and Sweden has challenges with nuclear power. One of the greats Furnaces outside Gothenburg Among other things, out of service until February 1 due to a bug.
Next week, they plan to put ice on a section of the reservoirs in Sweden, so you can’t pull down that far.
closely follows price
Among those following electricity prices with a debatable eye right now is Erik Norgaard, general manager at the EC Dahl brewery in Trondheim.
– Electricity is a significant cost factor in beer brewing – for boiling the beer and then cooling it. Norgård tells VG that we have been relatively spared from electricity prices so far, and it is not as important as in southern Norway.
The long-term contracts ensure them a certain security in the future, according to Norgård, where electricity bills are four to five percent of the total picture for the brewery.
– What do you think about your electricity prices being helped by more affordable exports?
– It hurts in many ways to see that the natural resources we extract here do not benefit us as much as before, says Norgaard.
Extreme differences
This summer there were big price differences between southern Norway and the rest of the country.
– There were sharp price differences this summer because the north had extra water and the south had too little. It is not hydrologically normal and will become normal over time. “It’s happened faster than we thought, and we’ve got a big export in the north and a big water filling in the south,” says Tor Rier Lillehold, head of analysis at Value Insight.
There were times this summer in the north where shops were so full, and the wind so windy that the price of electricity was zero.
– It was cheaper because they had to let the water pass because it was more profitable than paying feed-in fees to the grid and taking into account the wear and tear on the turbines and generators, says Lilleholt.
But prices in northern Norway and central Norway will drop next year.
– Price expectations in central Norway are 65 øre in the first quarter and 55 øre in northern Norway. When the weather is mild and windy, northern Norway and central Norway will fall faster to lower prices, Lilleholt says.
On Tuesday, the price of pure electricity in northern Norway was just 62 øre.
– Gets more out of every kilowatt
At Viken gartneri, a family business in the municipality of Frosta, they are constantly working to reduce their consumption. On about 15,000 square meters, mother Rocknhild Wicken, father Jonas Wicken and son Carl Martin Wicken work year-round to produce vegetables and herbs.
– Our approach is to get the most out of every kilowatt we consume. We are working with measures that make us less exposed, son and general manager Carl Martin Viken tells VG.
Between March and October, consumption is low, while in winter they have to turn on the lights to keep the plants alive. Viken estimates that 30-40 percent of the electricity they use follows the spot price.
– What do you think about your electricity prices being helped by more affordable exports?
– I think it’s a little special. We are a nation built on good and clean energy and security of supply. This is a clear competitive advantage for Norwegian industry and manufacturing. I feel we are going to give up that advantage, and we have few other things in our favor than Norway,” Viken replied.
“Music geek. Coffee lover. Devoted food scholar. Web buff. Passionate internet guru.”
