– One wonders whether the government has sufficient understanding of the crisis. If it’s urgent and you want it, you can make it happen. We know this, among other things, from the way we have handled the pandemicsays Høyre leader Erna Solberg.
He believes the government can work faster to ramp up energy production.
– The pace has to pick up, and quickly, says Solberg.
Before the new year, Statnett sent a warning to the Ministry of Oil and Energy that Norway is heading for a power effect and deficit within a few years.
– Statnett’s warning must be taken very seriously. The challenge now is to quickly build large quantities of new renewable energy generation. Without this, we will lose industrial plants, achieve high electricity prices and, worst-case scenario, households and businesses will lose access to energy, says Solberg.
He gave a talk at a conference
On Sunday, the Conservative Party met for a joint conference in Sundvollen outside Oslo.
There, Solberg presented twelve measures that he believes are the right medicine to avoid potency deficits.
– Some of the proposals have already been approved by the Conservative Party in the Storting. Now it’s the processing time in government that’s the big drag. Proposals involving only rule changes should be implemented by the government within a couple of months, says Solberg.
Here are the twelve measures:
1. Announce now Phase I and II of the development of Sørlige Nordsjø II.
2. Realize projects like Trollvind and Snøheia Industrikraft quickly.
3. Change the structure of the proposed land rent tax for onshore wind energy to be effectively neutral for both existing and new installations.
4. Implement the changes to the Town Planning and Building Law that help the Municipalities in the location of new wind farms.
5. Raise or remove the 500 kW limit for sharing electricity between housing units in cooperative housing and condominiums.
– This was adopted by the Storting on a proposal from the Conservative Party in October 2022, but the government has chosen to postpone the implementation, comments Solberg.
6. Include battery solutions and systems for the intelligent management of electricity from solar cells in Enova’s support schemes for households, local energy areas and businesses.
7. Require that all public buildings be inspected with a view to installing solar power plants where appropriate.
8. Realize more hydropower from small power.
9. The high price contribution of 23% for electricity above 70 øre is to be phased out in 2024.
10. Increase efforts through Enova, both for businesses and families.
11. Reduce license processing times for both new power generation and networks.
12. Introduce digital solutions that increase the use of existing networks.
