In January 2018, an extraordinary municipal council meeting was called in Luster. The explanation was that it was urgent to get a clarification on whether Hydro Energi should be allowed to expand and modernize existing power plants in the rivers Fortun and Grandfasta in Sogn. In addition, the neighboring municipality of Årdal pressed on. The industrial town in the heart of Sogn has historically gained power from Luster. The municipal board representatives in Luster threw themselves around, and – on certain conditions – said yes to the plans. Five years have passed since then, and the “urgent matter” is still on the table of NVE, which is responsible for processing license applications. – It has taken a long time, says mayor of the municipality, Ivar Kvalen (Sp). NVE tells news that several investigations will be carried out during the year (see below). NVE: – Licensing processes are time-consuming Carsten Stig Jensen, head of section in NVE – The license for the regulations in Fortun Grandfasta was granted on 25 January 1957 with a duration of 60 years. The concession expired in 2017 and Hydro has therefore applied to renew the regulatory licence. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED) has granted an interim permit for further regulation until the application for a new license is decided. Fortun Grandfasta is a large regulating system with 11 regulating reservoirs, 12 dams, 15 stream inlets, more than 30 landfills and 80 kilometers of tunnels. The power plant in the system produces 1.6 TWh annually. Much has changed since the concession was granted in 1957 and it is expected by the general public that the conditions will be modernized and that conditions will be set that protect the environment in a better way than the conditions in the concession from the 50s. Licensing processes in such a large regulatory system are extensive and time-consuming. NVE received an application from Hydro for a renewed regulatory concession on 10 April 2017. The application was announced and sent to a public consultation, and a consultation meeting was held. NVE received over 50 statements in the case and the final inspection was carried out with extensive corona measures in September 2021. NVE has also asked Hydro for additional information, Hydro has held an information meeting about the plans going forward and what measures can be implemented in the watercourse. The meeting was attended by representatives from NVE, the Norwegian Environment Agency and several others from the hearing parties. In order to obtain an even better basis for decision-making and knowledge, investigations will also be carried out in the watercourse in 2023. The power plant itself received a license in 2020, but the issue of grid connection is, as Hydro says: “demanding”. John Eckhoff in Hydro adds: – In general, we are busy shortening the processing time for license cases. It is absolutely necessary in the power situation we are in. In January 2018, an extraordinary municipal council meeting was called in Luster. The background was that Hydro had to get an answer to a power question. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – I get a pension before I get a license A two-hour drive away, in Sandane in Nordfjord, Olav Fuglestrand walks around with a quiet dream of building a “small, discreet small power plant” that can supply 570 households with current. For now, it will be the dream. Four years after NVE conducted a visual inspection in the river, Fuglestrand has still not received a response from NVE. – I have started to come to terms with the fact that I will get a pension before I get a license, says the 59-year-old to news, with a resigned smile. Olav Fuglestrand walks around with a quiet dream of building a “small, discreet small power plant” that can supply 570 households with electricity. Photo: Harald Kolseth / news The ministry wants a fast track The strained power situation, the work pressure and the perception of NVE as “a plug in the system” was the starting point when the then Minister of Oil and Energy Tina Bru (H) in 2021 set up the so-called pace committee to propose measures that can reduce the time it takes to grant concessions. The same impulse was behind when Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland asked NVE last year to create a “fast track” to speed up the development of the Norwegian power grid. More impatient is the mayor of Vestland county, Jon Askeland (Sp), who has advocated that NVE must learn to do the job in “maximum ten weeks”. NVE, for its part, has announced that the queue will be longer, and companies applying for a license must expect a longer processing time than before. Hydro: – We have a good dialogue with governing authorities and landowner John Eckhoff, head of information in Hydro – Luster municipality handled two hearings in January 2018 related to Hydro’s hydropower plant in the municipality. It was linked to the Øyane power plant and the renewal of the regulatory concession for the Fortun/Grandfasta plant. Hydro received a license from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for the Øyane power plant in 2020 after NVE had considered and given its recommendation. Hydro is now assessing the possibilities for developing the project, but grid connection may be demanding. The regulatory concession is being processed by NVE, but after the application there has been progress and good dialogue with governing authorities and landowners, something that Luster municipality is also closely involved in. In general, we are also busy shortening the processing time for concession cases linked to new power generation and new net, something that is absolutely necessary in the power situation we are in. – The government must get the finger out In a proposal to the Storting, four Upper House representatives advocate that the government must “consider measures to speed up the licensing process” – The government must get out the finger. During the corona crisis, we showed that it is possible to act quickly. We can transfer some of that to power and network concessions, says Bård Ludvig Thorheim (H) to news. New tax rules and billion-dollar investments in hydropower were the background to NVE’s announcement last year that they will invest more resources in handling concessions linked to large hydropower plants (and lower priority for smaller hydropower plants). Behind the decision were also questions about the balance of power and the balance of power. – Many cases come in, and there are many more cases underway. Then we have to have a queuing system, explained NVE chief Kjetil Lund. In recent years, NVE has received extra money to strengthen the departments that process license applications, but a lot is said by several people in the industry with whom news has been in contact. Everyone points to the fact that the time spent queuing is neither acceptable nor sustainable (see below). – The concession processing is far too slow Rune Skjevdal, head of Norsk Grønnkraft – In the situation the country is in now, radical measures must be taken to reduce the processing time dramatically. Knut Lockert, day-to-day manager of District Energy – We have to pick up the pace in the license processing if we are not to fall even further behind with the consequence that the good projects land everywhere other than in Norway Aslak Øverås, Renewable Norway – The license processing is far too slow. NVE must be given greater resources and the pace must increase if we are to avoid a power deficit already in 2027. Rein Husebø, director of Forte vasskraft – NVE needs more resources, but in general we see that NVE does not take the initiative itself. Politicians must therefore be on the field and make concrete demands on NVE regarding goals and progress. Olav Hallset, day-to-day manager of Kraftfylka – The concession processes must be carried out in as efficient a manner as possible, within the framework of proper involvement of everyone who will be involved in the processes. Norway needs much more power and much more networks. Nobody has time for projects to “strand at NVE”. Jon Rolf Næss, leader of the National Association of Vasskraftkommunar (LVK) – It is well known that the processing time in NVE is very long. This has been a problem for many years, and now the government has given NVE financial resources to strengthen staffing in order to reduce case processing time, so we can hope that this will gradually improve. It also happened when the Storting approved the full development of the salmon river Aura in 1951 by 82 to 49 votes. This laid the foundation for the aluminum plant Hydro. The factory helped to increase the population and is still a cornerstone company in Sunndalsøra. It was to be one of the largest hydropower developments in the country at the time. Here from the water reservoir on the mountain. At that time the need for power in the industry was great, and it was laid less emphasis on nature and the environment. There were few or no requirements for minimum water flow in many waterways. It was called world-class engineering when the hydropower plant was built around Aura. A total of 35 kilometers of tunnels led the water to the power plant in the neighboring municipality. Gradually more and more disappeared of the water in waterways in many places in the country, also in Aura. There, the salmon is considered lost for eight kilometres. In the river Eira, which is part of the waterway, the power company releases 50,000 smolt a year. Hydropower has led to dry rivers, now there may be a change. As early as 1959, the Storting decided that the concessions could is revised again after 50 years. In Aura power plant, electricity production continues as before and there will be no minimum water flow requirements for the next 30 years either. In other watercourses they are still waiting for an answer. NVE: – Good processes take time Head of section in NVE, Carsten Stig Jensen, tells news that licensing cases involve many different interests and that navigating this wilderness of intersecting interests “can take time”: – It is therefore important that good, democratic processes where municipalities and other affected parties are given the opportunity to provide input through hearings, inspections and meetings. NVE must then weigh the various interests against each other, and this can take time.
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Five years after the “emergency meeting”, the village is still waiting for an answer from the state – news Vestland
