Electricity, April 2001

Imports of electricity in April were as high as 1 572 GWh, while exports were recorded as one of the lowest which is measured for this month at 192 GWh. This has given an extremely high import surplus of 1 380 GWh. The combination of relatively low electricity production and a high consumption has given a large shortage of electricity, high prices and increased imports. The import surplus in April was largest from Sweden with 957 GWh, while the import surplus from Denmark was 383 GWh. The value of the import surplus in April was NOK 295.5 million. There has been an import surplus of electricity of 2 205 GWh so far this year, while there was an export surplus of 3 962 GWh for the corresponding period last year. The value of the import surplus so far this year is NOK 486.8 million.

High consumption of electricity

The total gross consumption of electricity in April was the highest ever at 10 667 GWh. The electricity production was 2.5 per cent higher than the previous record for this month from last year. Electricity consumption in other consumption than in energy-intensive manufacturing was also record high at 7 887 GWh, and was 8.5 per cent higher than the yearly average electricity consumption for this month for the last 10 years. The consumption in April was high even if the temperatures were nearly normal for the entire country. The electricity consumption so far this year has reached 50 018 GWh, an increase of 5.4 per cent compared with the same period in 2000.

The consumption of electricity in the production of intensive-energy manufacturing in April was up 1.1 per cent to 2 780 GWh from April last year to April this year. So far this year the electricity consumption in production of intensive-energy manufacturing is 11 277 GWh, an increase of 1.5 per cent from the corresponding period in 2000.

Relatively low production of electricity

The production of electricity in April was 9 287 GWh, which is a decrease of 2 339 GWh or 20 per cent from April last year. The production in April was also 2.8 per cent lower than the average electricity production for this month for the last 10 years. The production of electricity so far this year is 47 814 GWh. This is a decrease of 7.0 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The contents in the water reservoirs in mid-April were 35.9 per cent of total capacity. This is 3.2 percentage points lower than for the corresponding period last year and 3,2 percentage points lower than the median for this period from 1990 to 2000.

Tables:

• Table 1 Production, import, export and consumption of electric energy. GWh. Preliminary figures