Electricity, August 2001

The production of electricity in August was 7 862 GWh, which is a decrease of 27 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year. The electricity production in August is also 6.5 per cent lower than the yearly average for this month for the last 10 years. So far this year the production is 78 078 GWh, which is 17.2 per cent down compared with the corresponding period in 2000. The large decrease in the production must be seen in connection with lower trickle of water to the water reservoirs compared with last year, and this has given a considerably decrease in the production of water power. Water power dominates when it comes to electricity production in Norway.

The contents in the water reservoirs in mid-August were 78.2 per cent of the total capacity. This is 14.1 percentage points lower than for the corresponding period last year and 11.2 percentage points lower than the median for this period from 1990 to 2000.

Lower electricity consumption

The consumption of electricity in August was 7 989 GWh. This is a decrease of 5.4 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year. The decrease in the consumption can be seen in connection with higher temperatures for the month of August this year - compared with last year and an increase in the electricity prices. The decrease in the electricity consumption in production of energy intensive manufacturing in August can also be seen in connection with lower production of industrial chemicals and iron, steel and ferroalloys, which has reduced the consumption. The consumption of electricity from January to August this year is 82 840 GWh. This is an increase of 1.6 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year. The electricity consumption in the production of energy intensive manufacturing was however down 0.1 per cent in the same period.

Still import surplus

Exports of electricity in August were 574 GWh, while imports were 700 GWh. This gives an import surplus of 126 GWh in August, while there was an export surplus of 2 339 GWh for the corresponding month last year.

Tables:

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