The top advertisement on Enova’s website for private individuals has for a period been support for buying an electric moped or motorcycle. Wilhelmsen says he went in there to get help to save electricity. He could hardly believe what he saw. – Ukraine is at war. Russia uses energy as a weapon. The electricity price the other day was NOK 10 per kilowatt hour. And what our state body for energy conservation is concerned with, I think, is electric mopeds! – When everything has become more expensive, it is not easy for people to find money for energy saving measures in the home. Then that’s what they need support for, not electric mopeds, says MDG’s energy policy spokesman, Einar Wilhelmsen. Photo: Kjartan Rørslett / news As part of its new consumer initiative, Enova provides NOK 3,500 in support to buy an electric moped and up to NOK 25,000 for a heavy electric motorcycle. The purpose is to speed up sales, so that electric mopeds and motorcycles become more common and cheaper. Wilhelmsen is an energy policy spokesperson in the Green Party and finance council in Oslo. He emphasizes that he is not against electric therapists. – But there is a time and a place for everything. Now we are at war, Russia is using energy as a weapon to try to weaken our solidarity with Ukraine and trying to get the European countries to instead argue among themselves. It works, we can see that in the debate, says Wilhelmsen. You can get NOK 3,500 in support to buy an electric moped and up to NOK 25,000 for an electric motorcycle. But you don’t get any support from Enova to re-insulate the house or change windows to save electricity. Photo: Skjermdump / Enova He believes that what is needed now is a large-scale effort to save on the energy we have and produce as much energy as possible. – Then we have to put in place generous support schemes that mean that people can afford to implement measures to save energy, says Einar Wilhelmsen. Supporting mopeds, not insulation Market manager for construction and housing in Enova, Anna Barnwell, says support for electric mopeds and electric motorcycles is just one of many initiatives on the website for private individuals that Wilhelmsen has visited. Enova’s Anna Barnwell says Enova is keen to support those who go ahead and adopt new technology. Photo: Morten Andersen / news – 13 of the 14 measures are energy measures in homes, she says. – Enova therefore provides support to buy electric mopeds and electric motorcycles, but not support to replace draughty windows or re-insulate the wall. Why not? – Enova supports those who go ahead, who take a risk by being the first to adopt new, climate-smart technology. So the fact that we do not support measures that are part of a well-functioning market is about the fact that this will eventually lead to higher prices for consumers, says Anna Barnwell. You can get support for such measures, but only if it is included as a comprehensive upgrade of the building body. Retrofitting a house is effective in saving electricity. But you don’t get any support from Enova to do that. Removed target for energy saving The state corporation Enova was established in June 2001 to promote an environmentally friendly restructuring of energy use and energy production in Norway. Enova was to replace the local Enøk centres. The company collects approximately NOK 400 million annually through a fee that private electricity customers must pay. Right up until 2020, Enova had a concrete target for how much energy saving their efforts should contribute to. This was removed under the previous government, although several of the measures today also promote energy efficiency. Now the main emphasis was to be placed on cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The current government has not changed this priority. Energy war – We send heavy artillery vehicles and cannons and lots of other military equipment to Ukraine. But in this war, energy is just as important. Then we have to mobilize everyone and have all the energy-saving measures that are possible put in place, says Einar Wilhelmsen. Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide defends that Enova does not support known measures to save electricity, such as re-insulating or replacing draughty windows. – There won’t be more electricians or installers if we send more money into that market, says Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide. He is responsible for the state enterprise Enova. Photo: Christopher Isachsen Sandøy / news – If we sponsor something that everyone or very many people still do, then there will be no more of it. It just happens that the price goes up. There won’t be more electricians or installers if you send more money into that market, he says. He nevertheless says that the government is concerned with saving electricity. – We are still working to see if there will be further measures in this regard, says Barth Eide.
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Criticizes Enova for incorrect prioritization during the electricity crisis – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
