So far this year, we have used around 113 billion kilowatt hours, which is around 5 percent higher than in the same period last year. Consumption has increased both in energy intensive industries and in general supply.
The fact that water reservoir levels are low and there has been high consumption due to the cold weather means that energy prices have been pushed higher than usual at this time of the year. “The high prices will probably mean that Norway will import more energy. Importing in this situation is a good thing, as it will help to save the water in the hydroelectric power station reservoirs," says Statnett's communications director Tor Inge Akselsen. So far this year, there has been a net import of electricity to Norway of approximately 6.5 billion kilowatt hours.

The average spot prices at which energy has been traded on the energy exchange in recent weeks has increased from approximately NOK 0.46 per kilowatt hour on November 19 to between NOK 0.52 (in the South) and NOK 0.65 (in Central and Northern Norway) for November 26. This compares to prices of around NOK 0.30 per kilowatt hour for this time last year.