Figures from NVE show that 42 small power plants have been built in Norway right now. A small power plant is a small power plant that has a production capacity of less than 10 MW. – That is a high number, says Leif Lia, who is a “hydropower professor” at NTNU. He refers to the predictions that the development of small power would stop when the scheme with electricity certificates was discontinued at the turn of the year. In practice, this means that small power plants that were put into operation from 1 January 2022 will no longer be subsidized, and must calculate the entire income from the current electricity price. Something that basically increases the limit of what is a “good shop”. As recently as last year, NVE therefore stated that the so-called “small power adventure” was over, symbolized by the fact that the number of new applications had dropped (see graph). – Lucrative investment Now Lia says that high electricity prices and the tense energy situation in Europe paint the picture of a new “small power boom”. – A proposed small power plant in the NO2 price range will be repaid in 1-2 years at today’s electricity price. What kind of other investments can boast such a payback period? asks Lia. Director of Forte Vannkraft, Rein Husebø, tells news that the company has seven small power plants under construction, and a further 15-20 which “will probably start construction within a couple of years”. – Many facilities that were not profitable five years ago are very profitable now, he says. NVE announced in June that they will move away from the chronological principle and prioritize larger hydropower projects over small power, if there is a queue in the proceedings. The background for the notice is that NVE believes there will be a flurry of applications as a result of increased electricity prices and the switch to cash electricity tax. – Regulated hydropower is the backbone of the Norwegian power system, and we will prioritize these, said director of watercourses and energy, Kjetil Lund. – Strange to challenge the majority in the Storting The Small Power Association acknowledged that the signal was “unmusical” and on the verge of the energy report, where a majority in the Storting asks the government to relax the licensing process for small power. – It is a bit strange that Kjetil Lund chooses to challenge the parliamentary majority, said daily leader of the Small Power Association, Knut Olav Tveit to Europower. Bjarte Skår is director of the Dale company Hywer, which supplies equipment to build small power plants. – Getting a response to a license application cannot take as long as it does today, he says. In December, news told about Olav Fuglestrand, who has been waiting for several years to receive an answer to his application. The Støre government announces in the Hurdalsplattforma that they will make better arrangements for small power, but also “do a review of the legislation related to small power with the aim of securing national ownership in the sector”. In an article in Nationen, energy policy spokesperson for the Center Party, Ole André Myhrvold, writes that the development of small power plants is “one of the most low-hanging fruits we have for increasing power production”. – Now we are going to make the biggest investment in small power plants since we were last in government, says energy policy spokesman for the Center Party, Ole André Myhrvold. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB 250 small power project has all the license Tveit in the Small Power Association says that it is “right that construction activity decreased after the first wave of small power”, but that activity is now high. As of today, there are 250 small power projects that all have a license (approval from NVE). – We can continue at this pace for a few more years, but we need new concessions to keep up the pace, says Tveit. In April, he continued to “get this out of the chair” when he was presented with a report which said that it is possible to develop 16.7 terawatt hours (TWh) with new small power in the years leading up to 2030. 16.7 TWh is compare twice the power consumption in Oslo over the course of one year. New report: New small power plants can provide 3.3 + 13.4 TWh in new power production The report divides the small power potential into four groups: Granted licenses (2.1 TWh) Projects under construction (0.7 TWh) Projects pending at the authorities (0 .5 TWh) Potential not applied for license (13.4 TWh) Group 1 also includes license-free plants, preferably mini and micro power stations. Group 3 also includes those that are being processed by municipalities and the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The report has not included O/U projects for small power such as changes in absorption capacity and some small regulations because it amounts to little in the grand scheme of things, and there could easily be sources of error elsewhere in the database which means that they can lie as a corrective factor for any optimistic estimate for new small power. The same applies if there are any applications for minor regulations relating to small power plants in the years ahead. Source: Småkraftforeninga
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High electricity prices create a new wave of small power – news Vestland
