Electricity, June 2007

The production of power in June was 14.2 per cent higher than in the corresponding month last year and 9.8 per cent higher than the average for June in the period 2000-2006. A high inflow to the reservoirs and a good filling may have affected the high production.

The production of electric power in the first and second quarter of 2007 is 66 978 GWh electric power, a decrease of 1.1 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year. Although the production of power has been high in Norway during the last three months, the first quarter saw lower production than in same period of 2006. So far this year, the production of hydropower accounts for 98.5 per cent of the total production, while thermal power and wind power account for 0.9 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. Wind power production came to 434 GWh in the first half of this year, an increase of 48.9 per cent compared with 2006. Although wind power production has risen sharply since 2001, almost the entire Norwegian power system is still based on hydropower.

Filling above median

The reservoir filling was 54.4 per cent at the beginning of June. Throughout the month, the filling increased by 19.0 percentage points to 73.4 per cent at the end of week 26. The median filling for the corresponding period in the past 15 years is 67.5 per cent. A substantial melting of snow contributed to the high inflow to the reservoirs in June.

High consumption of electricity

Gross domestic consumption of electricity (total production less net export) in June came to 8 401 GWh, the third highest consumption figure ever recorded for this month. The consumption in energy-intensive manufacturing was roughly on the same level as in June 2006, while the consumption in the category “Gross domestic consumption subtracted consumption in energy-intensive manufacturing” increased by 4.0 per cent to 5 852 GWh, the second highest consumption figure recorded for June. Households, services and other manufacturing than the energy-intensive account for the majority of this consumption. Low electricity prices and high economic activity may have affected the high consumption of electricity.

High exports of power

Norway’s imports of power came to 103 GWh in June, while exports came to 1 447 GWh. The last time Norway had net imports of power was in June 2004.

See also

Prices of electric energy

Tables:

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