NorGer reaches major milestone in Germany
(11/26/2010)
The German energy regulator Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) has approved NorGer's application to be exempted from the rules for income regulation for the proposed interconnector between Norway and Germany. “The BNetzA ruling is the most important milestone so far on the way to realising the NorGer project,” says Tommy Løvstad, project director for NorGer.
“Our ruling is a positive signal for the development of more renewable energy, and a major step towards the creation of a single European energy market,” said BNetzA President, Matthias Kurth, in connection with the announcement of the decision. NorGer's project director, Tommy Løvstad, shares Kurth's opinion, and believes Germany's highly ambitious renewable energy commitment is an important driving force behind BNetzA’s favourable ruling.
“Norway, Germany and Europe need a large number of transmission cables if renewable energy commitments and climate goals are to be met by 2020. A better integrated European energy market, with more reliable supplies and greater competition, is crucial in this regard,” explains Løvstad, praising BNetzA for the structured and effective way in which it processed the application.
The BNetzA ruling will now be handed on to the European Commission, which has around two months in which to make a final decision. On the Norwegian side, it is the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED) that is responsible for considering NorGer's application, while the EFTA supervisory body is responsible for making the final decision.
“The OED has told NorGer that is has not started considering the application as yet, but as the application has now been approved by the German authorities, we feel confident that the OED will begin to look at it in detail. We already have good relations with the Ministry, and we expect that the Norwegian authorities will handle the matter efficiently as well,” says Løvstad.
For more information contact:
Niklas Granlund, communications manager – tel. + 47 410 20 151
About NorGer
NorGer KS is planning to build the first electricity cable connection between Germany and Norway, aimed at linking the Norwegian and German energy supply networks. This will be done by laying a 600 km or so long high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnector on the bottom of the North Sea. The interconnector will have a capacity of 1400 MW. NorGer KS is a company owned by the Norwegian system network operator Statnett (50 percent), the Norwegian energy companies Agder Energi and Lyse, and the Swiss company EGL, each with a stake of 16.67 percent.
