Record-high electricity production in August

After many months of low production of electric energy, production underwent a significant increase in August, when a record-high 9,039 GWh were produced. Probably the most important reason for the high production in August this year was that the reservoirs had risen considerably during the summer months. They were almost completely replenished during August.

In the middle of August the reservoirs were filled to 91.3 percent of their total capacity. That is 13.4 percent more than the median for week 34 averaged over the period from 1982 to 1991. Except for the first two months of this year, the percentage of filling has been relatively high this year. This is also reflected in the spot price for electric energy sold in the Nordic Power Exchange, Nord Pool ASA. On the average, the spot price was only 5.4 øre/kWh in August. The corresponding prices for August in 1997 and 1996 were 13.1 and 30.0 øre/kWh respectively.

The production of electric energy in August this year was 15.3 percent higher than in August last year and was also 2.1 percent higher than the previous record from August 1990. So far this year, production has been registered at 74,573 GWh. This is 8.7 percent more than in the same period last year, when the production, however, was especially low. In the past 12 months, 117,608 GWh have been produced.

New Statistics
Monthly electricity statistics, August 1998.
The statistics are prepared in co-operation with Nord Pool ASA and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Administration (NVE), and are published monthly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information, contact:
Pal.Marius.Bergh@ssb.no, tel.: +47 21 09 44 20, or Ann.Christin.Boeng@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 47 43. Tables can be found in the Statistical Annex on page 25.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 41, 1998