Electricity, May 2002

The water reservoir level was 45.2 per cent of total water reservoir capacity in week number 20, in the middle of May. This is as much as 7.5 percentage points higher than the median for this week in the period 1990 to 2000. Despite the high production of electricity in May, more rain and melting of snow than normal caused the reservoirs to rise more than normal this month. While the water reservoir level was 4.8 per cent higher than the median in week number 19, it was 9.6 per cent points higher than the median in week number 22.

3.6 per cent higher production of electricity than normal

Total production of electric energy in the last twelve months period was 122 251 GWh. The production of electricity are estimated by Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate to be 118 TWh in a normal year, that is a year with normal rain and melting of snow. The electricity production was 3.6 per cent higher than normal in the last twelve months period. In this period 99.2 per cent of the electricity production was water power and 0.7 per cent was thermal power. 36 GWh, or 0.03 per cent, was wind power.

Highest electricity production in Nordland

Nordland was the county with the highest production of electricity in the period June 2001 to May 2002. The production was then 14 902 GWh. In Hordaland, where the production was second highest in this period, the electricity production was 14 195 GWh. The part of the total electricity production in Norway that amounts to 122 251 GWh was 12.2 and 11.6 per cent for these two counties respectively.

Considerable decline in Aust-Agder

Sør-Trøndelag was the county with the largest increase in the electricity production in the last twelve months period, with 19.6 per cent increase compared with the previous twelve months period. The electricity production increased from 4 139 GWh to 4 950 in this county. Aust-Agder was the county with the largest decrease in the electricity production the last year. In the period from June 2001 to May 2002 the production in this county was 4 157 GWh. This is as much as 28 per cent lower than the previous period.

Lower consumption of electricity

The gross consumption of electric energy in May this year was 8 860 GWh. This is 3.2 per cent lower than in May 2001. The net export of electricity in May this year was 699 GWh, and this is the highest so far this year. In the period June 2001 to May 2002 the net export was 1 360 GWh.

The gross consumption of electric energy during the last twelve months was 120 891 GWh. This is 4.5 per cent lower than the previous twelve months period. The consumption of electricity in energy intensive manufacturing declined in this period by 4.9 per cent to 31 726 GWh. The reduction in the electricity consumption was largest in the production of iron, steel and ferroalloys. The electricity consumption amounting to 5 955 GWh in the period June 2001 to May 2002 is 17.3 per cent lower than in the period from June 2000 to May 2001.

See also

Reservoir level

Prices of electric energy

Tables:

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