– It’s getting full. That applies to the whole country, says Statnett’s head of communications, Martha Hagerup Nilson. In the past year, the number of inquiries from companies that want to connect to the power grid in Norway has exploded. The transition from fossil to renewable energy creates an enormous need for electricity. In total, the number of inquiries constitutes a need for 11 times the electricity the city of Trondheim uses, says Nilson. – We have gone from 10 to 20 inquiries a year and up to 150 to 200. The volume of applications is very large, she says. REQUIRES A LOT OF POWER: The power that the more than 100 companies queuing up require corresponds to a power consumption of approx. 11 times Trondheim city, says communications manager for Statnett, Martha Hagerup Nilson. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news Afraid businesses are fleeing the country In the Herøya industrial area in Porsgrunn alone, there are between six and eight businesses, both existing and with establishment plans, which are now queuing up to get electricity. This potentially represents many jobs. Sverre Gotaas, manager of Herøya Industripark. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news – We are probably talking about 200-300 jobs, a little depending on which companies come first in the queue and how much they dare to bet on, says Sverre Gotaas, manager of Herøya Industripark. They have more than enough space, but therefore lack electricity. Gotaas fears that Norway may lose its competitive advantage against the rest of the world. – A good number of the companies are international. If they get better deals elsewhere, they will leave Norway, he says to news. Most people get no. In Vestfold and Telemark, it is the online company Lede that processes the applications for large parts of the county. Major customer contact at the company, Thea Øverli, says that most people who apply to connect to the network are turned down. – It is likely that there are three players who will get a positive answer about affiliation on terms, she says. This means that only three out of 39 agree to connect to the network in Grenland, but this is in the future, because now the network is full. – We are working to investigate what kind of capacity will be available in the future. Unfortunately, today’s internet is full, says Øverli. Herøya Industrial Park in Porsgrunn. Photo: Nils Fridtjof Skumsvoll / news Øverli believes it is impossible to develop the necessary capacity. In Greenland alone, 4,000 megawatts have been applied for. All of this should actually have electricity by 2030. – In a cold winter in Vestfold and Telemark, we use up less than 2,000 megawatts. A tripling of this by 2030 is not possible, she says. Shortage across the country It is not just in Grenland that there is a shortage of electricity for businesses. This applies to the entire country. Nilson in Statnett says they have built out the power grid for tens of billions, but that this is not enough. – This is due to the fact that there are so many people who want to connect to the grid, and because society is in a major transition where they will phase out fossil energy carriers with renewable energy. Now the capacity is about to be used up. – Haven’t you done any analyses? – We have spent 100 years building up the power system we have today. With the volume and enormous pace of applications that we now receive, this means that we would have to build up a similar system to the one we have today, over the course of five to ten years, says Nilson. – Do what we can Terje Aasland (Ap), oil and energy minister, says they are doing what they can to build out the network faster, and ensure that the companies can carry out the necessary investments. Terje Aasland (Ap), Minister of Oil and Energy. Photo: Lise Åserud – We must be able to solve this. We have a significant focus on being able to handle cases and ensure that the licenses are granted more quickly, so that we can build out the network faster. That is what they need, he believes. He warns that, in connection with the state budget, the government will make a major investment to build up energy management. – This is work that should have been started many years ago, says Aasland. – How quickly can this happen? – It is difficult to be very clear, but that we should do it much faster than what we are doing today. That is for sure.
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Over 100 businesses are queuing up to get electricity – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
