– We have worked hard to get the fixed price market started, says Vestre to news. He says it is now possible to make long-term agreements at less than NOK 1 per kilowatt-hour with a seven-year commitment from New Year. SATISFIED: Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) says they worked hard to get the agreements. Photo: Tale Hauso / news – It is quite a lot lower than today’s spot price of around NOK 4 in the most expensive areas, but prices fluctuate, and each individual company must assess for itself what is best for them, says the Minister of Business. Earlier today, Statkraft announced that the sale of power at a fixed price is underway. – The sale will initially take place via the end-user companies Fjordkraft and Fortum. Eventually, we aim to enter into agreements with several power suppliers, says Einar Hoffart, director of Nordic power agreements at Statkraft. The companies are skeptical NHO’s chief economist Øystein Dørum says it is very good that the companies are now being offered fixed price agreements for electricity. But he is very unsure whether the offer is good enough. – Our member companies have said that price protection can be interesting if they can secure the price in the area of 50-70 øre for contracts of up to three years’ duration. Only a few want to insure for a longer duration and higher prices than this. With the price levels that are now signalled, we are therefore skeptical as to whether this will be relevant for particularly many companies, he says. SKEPTICAL: NHO’s chief economist Øystein Dørum thinks the prices are too high for companies to be interested. Photo: Berit Roald Dørum believes the government should now continue the electricity support for business. – The prerequisite for discontinuing the electricity subsidy already at the turn of the year was a fixed-price market that could ensure viable electricity prices for businesses from 1 January onwards. For the majority of companies, this does not currently seem to be the case. In that case, the electricity subsidy must be continued after the New Year. More prices news has been in contact with Fjordkraft, who confirms that it is possible to sign fixed price agreements for less than NOK 1 from the New Year. But prices vary from area to area. There is also a different price if you choose to sign an agreement from 1 January or 1 July next year. Finally, the price also varies depending on whether the company chooses to pay flat, for even consumption or so-called profiled consumption. – We sell both parts. Most companies have seasonal variations and want profiled prices, says Jon Eikeland in Fjordkraft to news. Profiled prices mean that companies buy in a larger volume in the winter months when consumption and prices are higher. Flat consumption throughout the year results in a lower price. These are the prices Fjordkraft offers: See the bottom of the article for the prices starting in July. No guarantee that it will pay off The prices in the table above are without VAT and include a surcharge of 2.5 øre per kilowatt hour. According to Fjordkraft, around 220 customers have expressed interest in advance. The prices are valid until Thursday, and from now on new prices will be communicated every Monday. Fortum informs news that they expect to be able to announce their price offers next week. – It is important that customers make a conscious choice and have the right motive for binding the price for such long periods. There is no guarantee that the fixed price will beat the floating price over time, says communications manager Kristian Myrseth at Fortum. He points out that it is up to the individual company to assess whether there is a need for such predictability. Prayer to the electricity companies – I encourage all electricity companies to put their best offers on the table, so that competition for fixed-price customers can hopefully push prices down, says Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre. Dørum in NHO, for his part, emphasizes that very many companies have variable consumption, which means that an agreement with even consumption will only reduce the price risk – not remove it. – It therefore remains to be seen how many companies are actually interested in signing agreements in this market, says Dørum. Business customers in Norway who want price offers on fixed price agreements must contact a power supplier who offers this, Statkraft points out. – The disadvantage is that spot prices can fall to lower levels than the contract price beyond the period. The choice can be compared to choosing a fixed or floating interest rate on a loan. Customers must also carefully familiarize themselves with all terms and conditions before entering into this type of contract with a duration of several years, says Einar Hoffart.
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This is how much companies have to pay for a fixed price for electricity – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
