– The situation is critical. Businesses are refused to establish themselves here because there is not enough electricity, says Magne Heimvik, who has years of management experience from the power industry, but is now retired. He has led the work on a new report on the power situation in Sunnhordland. The region is in the area with by far the highest electricity price at the moment. The report was prepared by Invest in Sunnhordland, which is a collaboration between several municipalities to facilitate industrial development. In addition to the fact that the power grid in the region is fully loaded and has little capacity, they point to the electrification of the Johan Sverdrup field. The Johan Sverdrup field produces up to 755,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Equinor. Photo: Lizette Bertelsen & Jonny Engelsvoll / Equinor Johan Sverdrup is the third largest field on the Norwegian continental shelf. Since 2018, it has been operated with electricity from land, rather than producing its own electricity from the gas they pump into the North Sea. According to Equinor, it cuts the emission of greenhouse gases by 80 to 90 percent. The cables run from Kårstø in Tysvær in Rogaland. The field takes approximately 300 MW from the central grid, which supplies Sunnhordland and Haugalandet with electricity. – Concretely, this means that all new establishments or expansions of consumption above 1 MW will probably have to wait until closer to 2028 before they get access to power, according to Heimvik. “At a time when there is a large power deficit on land, it is very unfortunate that so much power from land is used for an industry that could be powered with self-produced power offshore – either with gas or offshore wind,” the report says. – Isn’t electrification necessary to live up to obligations to cut emissions? – I have not taken a position on that in this report. What I have pointed out are the consequences, says Lene Pilskog, who is head of Invest in Sunnhordland. Large businesses will probably have to wait until 2028 before they can establish themselves in Sunnhordland. The exception is Husnes i Kvinnherad, say Lene Pilskog in Invest in Sunnhordland and Magne Heimvik, who have led the work on the report. Photo: Olav Røli / news Fears obstacles to new, green industry The debate about electrification of the shelf has flared up after the government two weeks ago stepped in to electrify the gas plant on Melkøya in Finnmark with electricity from shore. It should contribute to Norway achieving the goal of reducing emissions from oil and gas production by 50 per cent by 2030 and down to zero in 2050. Many fear it will give less power to other industries and private individuals. – Has Sunnhordland already arrived where Finnmark fears they will? – Based on what I have found out, you can say yes, says Pilskog. – We have leading technology in green industry, and people from all over the world come here to test new solutions. But when they want to establish themselves, I can’t accept them because I don’t have the power. There are more than 20 business areas in the municipalities of Bømlo, Fitjar, Kvinnherad and Stord. In addition, all plan new business areas. In Bømlo municipality alone, there is an increased need of around 40 MW over the next ten years, Finnås’ power team has calculated. Invest in Sunnhordland now calls on politicians both locally and nationally to increase power production in the area. Much more expensive electricity in the south and south-west Ordinary consumers are also affected by the power deficit. Sunnhordland is in the NO2 price range, which stands out with prices that have recently been up to five times higher than in the rest of the country. On Monday morning, the spot price was 112 øre per kWh. A ferry ride further north and to a different price range, people paid just 27 øre per kWh. Price area Norway is divided into five price areas for electricity: Eastern Norway (NO1) Southern Norway (NO2) Central Norway (NO3) Northern Norway (NO4) Western Norway (NO5) – How does the electrification of the Johan Sverdrup field affect the price? – All consumption helps to push prices up. We are also closer to the landing point for the international cable. Another explanation is limited capacity between the various regions. We get bottlenecks and shortfalls in power in certain areas. Then the price goes up, says Magne Heimvik. There are big differences in the electricity price. Here is an example from Wednesday last week. Photo: Strøm.no Head of analysis Tor Reier Lilleholt at Volue Insight says there are other factors that affect the price more. – Johan Sverdrup’s consumption is probably close to 10 per cent of all consumption in the NO2 price range. But the consumption drops a little in relation to the weather and wind, and how it fluctuates from hour to hour. In this region, one is also connected to four countries with cables, and that affects the price. According to Lilleholt, electricity prices will level out more and become more equal in the winter. Tor Reier Lilleholt is clear that electrification of the continental shelf is necessary for Norway to meet its climate commitments. – They trump most things, he says. Photo: news Power jealousy elsewhere The electrification of Melkøya means that the government will prioritize network development and license applications in the north, with particular emphasis on Finnmark. It creates fear of downgrading elsewhere in the country. In a new reply to the Storting, Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) reiterated the ambition to prioritize the north. “A prioritization of something will necessarily mean that something else cannot be prioritized as highly. I would still like to point out that the government has implemented several measures to reduce the time it takes to develop and license new network measures (…)”, he writes in his reply. Magne Heimvik hopes that the report on power shortages in Sunnhordland will give a clear signal to the governing authorities. – There is one answer: We must have access to more power. We must produce more locally and regionally, and strengthen the network structure. We must develop power both at sea and focus on other larger projects. The network capacity in most of Sunnhordland is far too poor, the report states. Photo: Olav Røli / news
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Electrification of oil fields drains this region of power – news Vestland
