This is more bad news for the European consumer. A major electricity exporter, Norway has announced that it could suspend deliveries to Europe in the coming months. This time, it is not the shortage of Russian gas which is in question, but climate change, responsible for the drying up of water reservoirs, which supply the 1,700 hydroelectric power stations at the origin of more than 90% electricity produced by the country.
In general, at the beginning of August, the reservoirs, upstream of the dams, are 78.9% full, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE). In this year 2022, they are only 68.4% full. In question: the exceptionally low level of precipitation, for two years. The situation is particularly worrying in southwestern Norway, where reservoirs are only 50.4% full. It is precisely from this region that this country of 5.4 million inhabitants, the second largest supplier of gas in Europe, delivers a good part of its electricity to its European and British neighbours.
In 2021, its exports reached 25.8 terawatt hours (TWh), an increase of 30% compared to 2020. This record is partly explained by the commissioning of two new cables connecting Germany and the United United with Norway, which also supplies electricity to Sweden, Finland and Denmark. But if its exports continue to grow, the production capacities of the Scandinavian kingdom are increasing much more slowly. Hence a warning from the NVE, from the month of June.
Rationing measures
Alarmed by the low level of filling of the water basins, the Norwegian management called on the electricians to moderate their production, despite the rise in prices on the European market, in order to allow the reservoirs to be replenished by this autumn, and to avoid a serious energy crisis. In a column, published on June 27 in the daily AftenpostenNVE Director Kjetil Lund reminded electricians of their “responsibility to manage not only a commodity, but an essential resource for society”. He asked them to “retain water so that the filling of the reservoir in the fall is high enough to cope with the unforeseen events of the coming winter and spring”.
For its part, Statnett, the Norwegian electricity grid operator, has warned that rationing measures could be imposed from October, including the closure of industries, hikes in tariffs or even power cuts. . A prospect that arouses the concern and anger of Norwegians, used to paying for their electricity at low prices, and who see their bills soar. In December 2021, the Norwegian government, led by Labor Jonas Gahr Store, announced a first aid plan, intended to alleviate the cost for the consumer.
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