On Monday, a kilowatt hour of electricity will cost NOK 4.59 per kilowatt hour between 6 pm and 7 pm in southern Norway. It shows recent figures from the power exchange Nordpool.
In comparison, in the same time period it will be 53 øre for a kilowatt hour in Central and Northern Norway.
In the rest of the country, the price of electricity will be somewhat lower, although it will also rise here from the day before.
Power analyst at Volue Insight, Tor Lilleholt, tells TV 2 that people must rely on expensive electricity in the coming week.
– We have never seen such high prices at the hourly or daily level and we can expect prices to rise. We can imagine that we are entering Christmas with low temperatures and high prices, says Lilleholt to TV 2.
Can be four times higher
Monday’s record can be considered a trifle if prices increase to the maximum bid on the power exchange.
– There is a limit to how high the price of electricity can be. The limit is around 20 kroner per kilowatt hour, says Lilleholt.
– Does that mean you can get such high prices?
– Yes, in individual lessons. We have seen many places in Europe where such high prices have been reached. In England, they had 15 kroner per kilowatt hour this autumn, and it can suddenly be so high in Norway.
– INCREASE: Tor Lilleholt, analyst at Volue Insight, believes that the price of electricity will rise. Photo: Private
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The power analyst explains that the lack of water in the reservoirs is one of the reasons why prices can be so high.
– It pulls us into a situation where we have to save water and we do not get exported to Europe, and then we have to quickly go up to the same price as Europe. We are on our way up to those prices, but we are not quite there yet, says Lilleholt.
Lilleholt says that high gas and CO2 prices in Europe are helping to increase electricity prices.
– We have never seen such high prices in Europe either. So this situation is completely unique for all countries in Europe and not just Norway.
Low magazine filling
Ann Myhrer Østenby, who is section chief in the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), tells TV 2 that there is lower reservoir filling than normal for this time of year in southern Norway.
– In Norway as a whole, the reservoir filling is about 62 per cent, while the median at the corresponding time in 2001-2020 is 75.8 per cent. Low reservoir filling combined with the very high gas and CO2 prices in Europe results in high electricity prices in Norway, Østenby writes in an email to TV 2.
– LITTLE WATER: There is very little water in the water reservoirs of the power plants, which leads to record high electricity prices. Photo: Elias Engevik
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She expects high prices to continue, as long as gas and CO2 prices remain at this level.
You can apply for support
Late Thursday night, the government parties and SV agreed on a new power package to help Norwegian households meet the record high electricity prices.
This means that changes are made in both how large a part of people’s electricity bill the state should take, how many will receive housing benefit and guidelines for how this should be calculated.
But people need to remember to apply for housing benefit before the New Year to help in January.
– Go to husbanken.no where there is a form to apply for housing benefit. There is a calculator where you can enter income data, which calculates whether you are eligible for housing benefit. More will now be qualified, says Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) who is Minister of Local Government and District to TV 2.
The electricity package has been strengthened by more than NOK 1 billion, said the Labor Party’s energy and environmental policy spokesperson, Terje Aasland, at a press conference on Friday morning.
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