There has been a lot of talk about transmission cables between north and south. Price record after price record in the south has led to many asking whether more electricity should have been sent from the north. But is it the case that the current is actually blocked in the north? – This year, southern Norway has imported more from northern Norway than we have exported to Germany, England and the Netherlands combined. That’s what electricity analyst Tor Reier Lilleholt says in Value Insight. The power analyst’s calculation This is how the power flows from north to south: 3.7 TWh is exported from Northern Norway and Trøndelag to Southern Norway. 2.8 TWh is imported from Northern Norway to Southern Norway via Sweden In total: 6.5 TWh This is how the power is sent out of Southern Norway: 2.7 TWh exported to Germany 2.2 TWh exported to England 1 TWh exported to The Netherlands In total: 5.9 TWh In addition, 1.7 TWh has been exported to Denmark this year. Lilleholt states that the figures are given in actual flow – that is, the amount of current measured in the cables. The North accounts for 80 percent of exports First; how much electricity has Norway produced this year? NVE’s reports summarize weekly how power production and consumption develop over time. So far this year, Norway has produced 97 TWh. Of this, we have exported 9.3 TWh abroad. But only 1.7 of this comes from the three southern power regions. Central and Northern Norway will account for almost 80 per cent of exports in 2022. – There has clearly been more electricity from Central and Northern Norway to southern parts of the country and to Sweden over time, says Statnett’s head of communications, Christer Gilje. Reier Lilleholt emphasizes that most of the electricity surplus comes from the north. – If you combine what Northern Norway has exported directly south, and what is sent via Sweden and in through the Oslofjord cable, it is more than what we have exported to Europe so far this year. – It is in the north that the energy comes from. Northerners do not want to send more power south A snapshot from Statsnett’s overview of the power flow gives an insight into how the power moves. On Tuesday at 08:13, 1034 MW went from NO4 to NO3. At the same time, roughly the same amount of NO2 went to Denmark and the Netherlands. Photo: Skjermdump / Statnett.no Throughout large parts of 2022, this overview has shown the same picture; a lot of current flows from north to south. – In Northern and Central Norway, they have had enough power to export, explains Gilje in Statnett. But should more power have been sent? A recent survey shows that the people of the North do not want to share more on the stream: The survey was carried out by InFact on behalf of news and Amedia. Sigbjørn Seland, chief analyst at StormGeo, explains how much electricity is already going south. – Between Northern Norway and Central Norway there is a capacity of 1,200 MW. For comparison, the transmission capacity from northern Norway to northern Sweden is 950 MW. – But for various reasons, the market does not always get access to the entire capacity. What is your position on the construction of transmission cables for electricity between north and south? Positive Negative Don’t know Show result The power in the south is not used for export In other words, there is already a lot of electricity between the regions in the north and south of Norway. But is the power used in the south, or does it continue? Electricity analyst Tor Reier Lilleholt explains that even with the new cables to England and Germany, we have exported much less electricity than last year. Tor Reier Lilleholt in Value Insight says that less electricity has been exported so far this year compared to last year. Photo: Asbjørn Odd Berge / news And the surplus that has gone out of Norway is mainly not produced in the south. – People only look at these cables to Europe, that they suck out exports. But a more nuanced picture is that this is power that we get in northern Norway and Sweden which is then exported, he says and adds: – It is not the power in southern Norway that is used for export. The current will always move from areas with a low price to areas with a high price. – That’s how it should be, that you try to find routes from areas with very low prices to areas further down in Europe. Bad idea with more transmission Parliamentary representative and member of the energy and environment committee Bård Ludvig Thorheim (H) believes that a rapid expansion of the capacity between north and south should wait. – I think it is a bad idea in the short term. Prices would then remain the same in southern Norway but rise in northern Norway. He adds: – No one benefits from it. STOP HALF: Bård Ludvig Thorheim believes we should wait to develop more capacity for transmission from north to south. Photo: Benjamin Fredriksen / news But if the time horizon for the development is ten years, Thorheim is more positive. – It is rational to build out a power grid in the long term. When we get to 2030, we will have enormous amounts of offshore wind in southern Norway. Large amounts of reasonable power will then enter the power grid, which produces a surplus. – It could again be very important for the industry in the north. At the same time, he says that the north will have a surplus of hydropower that we can send south. Then we will have an exchange of electricity that both north and south benefit from. The solution to the ongoing energy crisis in the south, Thorheim believes, is to expand for more production in the south. – Northern Norway shows that you can keep prices low while at the same time having a power exchange. Therefore, the electricity price crisis in the south is best solved by expanding much more power production in the south.
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