– We can’t just shift responsibility – E24

NVE believes that building more wind power in Finnmark by 2030 is ambitious, and the energy industry requires that the country contribute to the dialogue with reindeer herding. – They have to take action themselves, says Aslaug Haga in Vornebar Norge.

The government has agreed to use about 2% of Norway’s energy consumption to reduce emissions at Equinor’s Melkoya plant in Hammerfest from 2030.

The prerequisite for this is that a new power generation must be developed that matches what Equinor will be used for.

New power plants encroach on nature, and environmentalists and Semitic activists are concerned about the impact of wind power on reindeer husbandry.

Aslaug Haga, head of the Norwegian Renewable Industry Organization, calls on the government to take the necessary measures to establish a dialogue on access to new wind energy before 2030.

– This is a huge commitment on the government, and it must move to manage it. “We think it’s absolutely necessary for the government to put in place a plan for how to manage this, and to start a process of dialogue that will be no less important to get the Sami communities involved,” says Haga.

Earlier this year, there were anti-government demonstrations in Oslo because wind power at Füssen in Trøndelag was still running. 500 days500 daysIt has been almost 700 days since the publication of the Vossen verdict on October 11, 2021 After the ruling of the Supreme Court, which ruled the invalidity of the concession.

Wind power developers in Finnmark inform in Messages According to the NVE, it was difficult to hold talks with reindeer herding areas.

It requires social acceptance

There are currently four wind power plants in Finnmark that are handled by NVE. The developers told E24 that they could scale by 2030, but that would require very short processing time.

In addition, the planned new power line from Skide to Libbysby had to be ready on time.

– This is closely related, and has to happen very quickly, says Harald Dierdal, who wants to develop the Dave wind power project in the municipality of Liebesby in eastern Finnmark.

He and Vornebar Norge believe it is possible to build more wind power in Finnmark by 2030, as the government wants.

– Hopefully it will be possible to achieve this. It shouldn’t be on this industry. I feel the industry is going downhill and ready to kick in, but we can’t do anything without a license. This requires social acceptance, Haga tells E24.

And she adds: – The government has undertaken an arduous task.

Fear of being blamed

The opposition in Parliament and local politicians in Finnmark are concerned about power shortages and high electricity prices in northern Norway.

Avery, the management consultancy, estimates that electricity, in isolation, could lead to an increase in electricity prices in northern Norway by eight euros per kWh in 2030, compared to not implementing this measure.

Haga fears that the energy industry will be blamed if it does not succeed in developing more energy, and believes that it will be difficult without government help.

– They can’t just leave this up to the licensing authorities and the industry, they must take action themselves and put together a plan for how things will work together. “We haven’t seen any sign of that yet, but we hope it will,” she says.

What we fear as an industry is that we will go out of business in 2030 if we can’t come up with new energy. “The government must take the necessary measures, it can’t just blame us,” Hajja says.

– Not NVE which is a bottleneck

The Norwegian Directorate for Water Resources and Energy (NVE) grants licences. NVE chief Kjetil Lund is open to moving forward somewhat more quickly, but stresses that procedures must be in order.

– How difficult will it be to get wind energy equivalent to Malkoya’s consumption by 2030?

– He’s ambitious. There’s a reason why power and network-related processes take time. There are great environmental and natural values, and there is a lot of commitment around these issues and they are often fraught with conflict. But we at NVE have to do what we can to contribute to speeding up operations, Lund tells E24.

From now on, NVE will give priority to Finnmark in the actions. But it is not NVE that is making it difficult to build more wind power, says the NVE chief.

– NVE is not the bottleneck here. If it were just about changes in NVE, these cases would be easy to solve. But the reality is there that demands a lot. And Lund says there’s a lot of commitment to these things.

– Not a good idea to cut corners

So far, it usually takes 6 to 7 years from the time an operator sends a letter saying they want to build a wind farm to its commissioning. Power lines usually take 7 to 14 years to complete.

– But you can’t go down from 6-7 years today to 2-3-4 years just in these operations?

– It will take a lot of time in these processes. The reason is that in Norway we have chosen to do fairly onerous licensing tours with multiple rides and hearings where people can advise they are against choosing a route etc. Most of these regulations, Lund says, are legislated and set by Parliament.

and sets an example; Half of the world’s population of dwarf geese can be found in Staborsdalen, in the section where the Schaide-Lipsbee power line will run.

– This is an important natural value, also at the international level. So we asked Statnett to provide additional solutions for this. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to cut things short here,” says Lund.

After the debate about wind energy and the level of conflict we’ve seen, I think it’s a good investment to do a proper job at the bottom to ensure good decisions are made, even if it takes a while. And we must have good confidence-building processes, whether for onshore, offshore or grid wind. He says the Front for Violent Extremism should contribute to this.

– It will not be possible to achieve everything

The government says it will introduce several measures during the fall to ease land disputes with reindeer husbandry. The hope is to build more power lines and electricity for new industry, climate measures and national security.

In all, several players in the north have applied for and reported plans or been awarded a license for on-shore wind energy with a total capacity of 3,000 MW. Four power plants totaling 2,450 MW are currently being processed by NVE.

Not everything will be achievable, and interventions must be within the general allowable limit for reindeer husbandry, but I have faith that it will be possible to find projects with acceptable impacts for relevant stakeholders, Secretary of State Elizabeth Sather writes in an article emailed to E24.

When the government agreed to electrify Melkoya, it said it might be realistic to do so 670 megawatts of wind energy670 megawatts of wind energyTogether, the Hamnefjell and Raggovidda wind farms have been given a license to expand by 170 MW more than the current developed capacity, which could happen when the power grid is expanded with the new power line from Skäde to Libesby. This potentially has the potential to deliver another 500 megawatts of wind power. (about 2-3 TWh of production per year) in Finnmark by 2030.