OSLO SPEKTRUM (VG) NHO chief Ole Erik Almlid is not intimidated by massive local opposition: He wants much more wind power on land in Norway. He also advocates developing more hydropower, even from pristine waterways.
Just updated
–
– We must dry more in Norway. And we must endure more, if we are to avoid an energy crisis with very high prices for households and industry, says the NHO chief to VG as he opens NHO’s annual conference on Thursday morning.
For several years, there has been a heated debate and tug-of-war around many municipalities about wind turbines.
It has ended with a political line where only municipalities that want wind turbines get wind turbines.
–– You stick your hand far into a very hot political wasp nest, Almlid?
– Now there are some parties that are slipping. But that is not the leading thing for us. We have companies and households that need electricity. We can not put our foremost competitive advantage behind us.
The NHO boss praises the government’s investment in offshore wind that came on Wednesday, and which could become 1,500 offshore wind turbines in 2040.
– Very good, he says.
But Almlid says that there is a gap long before that. The NHO chief refers to reports from Statnett that Norway will have a power deficit from 2026.
– Then it is too long to wait until 2040, he says.
–Linked to Europe
– We must say yes to more wind power at sea and on land, he said when he opened NHO’s annual conference in Oslo Spektrum on Thursday morning.
He added that we also need more hydropower, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen, battery, solar and for continued oil and gas production.
Almlid also said in his speech that we must connect our energy network even closer to Europe.
– We must connect our network to Europe. I am convinced of the following:
We must say a clear yes to more cooperation. Here at home. And out there.
With Europe and the rest of the world, he said.
More hydropower
To VG, he elaborates:
– To say yes to more hydropower means that we must expand the facilities we have. The owners must do that. Then we are talking about eight tWh. Then we have to expand the tributaries. And we must dare to ask ourselves if there are other watercourses that can be used. We must endure more in Norway if we are to avoid an energy crisis, supply households and industry with electricity in the short, medium and long term – and help Europe solve the climate challenge, says Almlid.
–Security policy
The NHO chief says that energy policy is increasingly also security policy.
He was supposed to have NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg at the conference, but Stoltenberg had to report his passport after a positive corona test.
With the crisis in Europe also follows the demand for a more offensive oil and gas development on the Norwegian shelf, from the NHO chief:
– We see a demand for gas and oil that we have never seen before, both in the short and long term. This requires that we get started again with new fields. Eventually, this will also turn into blue hydrogen, he emphasizes.
–
