Major power cut hit western Norway

More than 100,000 residents of western Norway were without electricity for several hours on Thursday evening, because of an error in a transformer station at Ørskog. The power cut hit customers of power companies Tussa and Tafjord Kraft. They serve customers throughout the area known as Sunnmøre, including Ålesund, Volda, Østra, Ulstein, Herøy and many [...]

Thousands hit by new power failure

Nearly 24,000 households and businesses in Oslo were without power Tuesday morning because of a technical problem at a transformer station at Ulven on the city’s east side. It was the second major power outage in the Norwegian capital in the past week. Officials at Hafslund, the company responsible for the electricity network in Oslo, [...]

Activists give up ‘monster mast’ fight

Norway’s state-owned power grid enterprise Statnett has quietly completed a fourth of its controversial new power line project on the north side of the Hardanger Fjord. Environmental activists and a long list of community leaders and politicians were bitterly opposed to what they called “monster masts,” but are now giving up two years of civil [...]

‘Monster masts’ reach Hardanger

The building of controversial overhead power lines, dubbed “monster masts” by opponents, has moved into a new phase that will see construction begin in the scenic region of Hardanger, with local campaigners planning action to disrupt the process. The escalation of the construction project began on Monday, with work planned to become possible in several [...]

Spring relieves electricity crisis

The newly-arrived, mild Norwegian spring looks set to spare the country an electricity crisis, as rain and melting snow relieve the pressure on the country’s reservoirs, and reduce energy prices. Although reservoirs remain at historically low levels, the status of the energy supply in the country’s most populous region, Southern Norway, has been downgraded from [...]

Electricity may be rationed

The power supply status for southern Norway was raising more concerns this week, with state authorities heightening their description of supplies from “tight” to “strained.” That brings the threat of electricity rationing closer, while electricity rates continue to rise. Following what has been described as a “dramatic” change in the state of the power supply, [...]

Electricity rates to stay high all year

With Norway’s mountain reservoirs at historically low levels, energy analysts are warning that this winter’s high prices for hydroelectric power will likely stay high through the summer as well. Renewed fears over nuclear power plants, following earthquake destruction in Japan, are also playing a role in soaring energy rates. Ironically, Norway’s economy as a whole [...]

Masts won the battle of Hardanger

UPDATED: Overhead power masts will be built after all in the scenic Hardanger area of Norway’s southwest mountains, the government confirmed on Tuesday. Cabinet ministers dropped alternative undersea cables, because they’re too expensive, time-consuming to put in place and raise environmental issues of their own. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) led its morning broadcasts with news that [...]

Colder weather due next week

The low winter sunlight in central and southern Norway can offer long and beautiful sunsets, but not much warmth, and now weather forecasters say a new deep freeze is on the way. Expect double-digit sub-zero temperatures next week. Norwegians are shivering through one of the earliest and longest cold snaps on record, with several weeks [...]

Cold snap doubles electricity rates

As Norwegians braved the latest week of an unusual deep freeze, concerns rose over not only skyrocketing electricity rates but whether power supplies would be adequate. Meanwhile came word the cold snap may actually be healthy. Authorities reported that reservoirs used to supply Norway’s hydro-electric power haven’t been as empty as they are now for [...]

Power line protests get louder

The chorus of protests over construction of large power lines around the scenic Hardanger Fjord is raising its pitch. An organized protest march is planned for August 14, while a veteran Labour Party politician is urging Norway’s Labour-led government to opt for a new power line route that won’t ruin the fjord landscape. Per Kleppe, [...]

‘Monster masts’ to rise over Hardanger

The Norwegian government revealed on Friday that it was going along with a highly controversial plan to build a major new power line over and around Norway’s scenic and famed Hardanger Fjord. The area’s tourism industry, environmentalists and several local politicians are furious, and one mayor is already threatening to physically attempt to block what [...]

State may delay ‘moon landing’

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg called ambitious plans for carbon recapture at Statoil’s Mongstad gas power plant the equivalent of a ‘moon landing’ for Norway, but now it faces further delays. Meanwhile, more Norwegians seem positive about nuclear power as a means of reducing carbon emissions. Newspaper VG reported over the weekend that Oil and Energy [...]