– People scream about exports from the south, but it is actually the northern Norwegian power that has been exported. That’s what analysis manager at Value Insight, Tor Reier Lilleholt, says. He points out that this year, as much power has been exported from Trøndelag to southern Norway as from southern Norway to England or Germany. But a lot of power is also exported from central and northern Norway to Sweden and Finland. This is particularly beneficial for the Swedes: They can buy cheap power from the north and sell it expensively in the south. – It is often the case that power is exported from northern Norway to northern Sweden and imported from southern Sweden to southern Norway, and lately it has at least been like that, says section chief in Norway’s Directorate of Water Resources and Energy, Ann Myhrer Østenby. Here you can see how much power is going from Northern Norway to Northern Sweden and from Southern Sweden to Southern Norway right now. Head of analysis at Value Insight, Tor Reier Lilleholt, points out that most of Norway’s power exports this year have come from the north. Almost all exports come from the north According to figures from NVE, almost 80 per cent of Norway’s net power exports this year came from the north. Only 3.5 per cent of production in the south has been exported abroad. From January to July, 4.51 TWh was exported from Norway to Sweden, while 3.67 TWh went from Sweden to Norway, according to figures from Statnett. It is not necessarily the case that all this flow has followed the route from Northern Norway to Southern Norway, via Sweden. But the way the Nordic electricity grid works, electricity must flow from where it is cheapest to most expensive. Better transmission capacity The price difference for electricity between north and south has been extreme this year. More electricity is produced than what can be used in the north, but due to poor transmission capacity it is difficult to send this to southern Norway. It is not that it is impossible to send the current directly, but those who followed along in science class know that current always takes the path of least resistance. It is in Sweden, where the transmission capacity is better. And since Sweden has better transmission capacity, they can buy electricity cheaply in the north – transport it south – and sell it expensively. It is particularly favorable when electricity prices in southern Norway are at a record high. Earlier this year, in an interview with Nettavisen, Nordea’s investment director Robert Næss estimated that the Swedes have made billions from this. The state must have its way. Exactly how much the Swedes earn from this is a bit difficult to calculate, because it is not free to use the electricity grid. Let’s do a simplified calculation (which does not reflect the actual electricity prices): The electricity price in Northern Norway and Northern Sweden is NOK 1 per kilowatt hour (kWh), NOK 5 in Southern Sweden and NOK 10 in Southern Norway. Then the Swedes earn NOK 4 per kWh they sell to electricity customers in southern Norway. If they had bought 5 TWh from Northern Norway and sold this to Southern Norway, they would have earned 4 billion – while the power producers in Northern Norway would have been left with 1 billion. But who is left with the last 5 kroner, or 5 billion? They divide Norway and Sweden, because they own the transmission cables. This is called bottleneck revenue. This has created a lot of debate when it comes to exports and imports via submarine cables from Norway to foreign countries. Does it help with more power lines? It is also not certain that new power lines from north to south would have equalized the price of electricity in Norway, or removed the opportunity for the Swedes to make money when the price difference is as it is now. – It is a complicated analysis. It depends on how many power lines are built and whether there will still be bottlenecks, says Østenby. – It would probably have a certain effect, but how much depends on many assumptions that are difficult to take into account. It is very complex. Section manager in NVE, Ann Myhrer Østenby, points out that the situation in Europe and the resource situation in the south are driving up prices. Photo: NVE But the development of new power lines from north to south can take up to ten years. According to the head of the Storting’s Energy and Environment Committee, Marianne Sivertsen Næss (Ap), Statnett has several plans for this. – But these are only plans, and no licenses have been applied for. In addition, it is worth mentioning that we are talking about a great many individual projects, she says. Head of the Storting’s Energy and Environment Committee, Marianne Sivertsen Næss (Ap), says that Statnett has several plans for new power lines. Photo: news The money will benefit electricity customers Statnett will use the bottleneck revenues they receive to cover relevant costs, so that the internet rent for Norwegian consumers will be lower. – These are costs for investments, operation, system operation and network loss which are already part of Statnett’s tariff basis, says Tore Langset, director of the Energy Regulatory Authority (RME). In 2021, these revenues ended at NOK 3.6 billion. At the end of May this year, they had already exceeded NOK 6 billion. Statnett describes this as a very special situation, and points out that it should benefit online customers. – The extra income this gives Statnett must be fully returned to the internet customers, and already in February we announced that our share of the internet rent would be reduced by NOK 4 billion so that the consumption tariff was set to zero, says Executive Director Knut Hundhammer at Statnett in a press release . At the end of June, Statnett had approximately NOK 8.5 billion in bottleneck revenues. About 1.4 of these came from the transfers between Norway and Sweden. Just over NOK 3.6 billion has arrived internally in Norway.
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Buy cheap in the north and sell expensive in the south – news Troms and Finnmark
