Hydroelectric Power in Norway

Introduction

Fig. 1: Photo of Brandaa Hydroelectric Power Station (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

After the passage of a large energy act in the early 1990s which commissioned a large hydropower scheme throughout the country, Norway has become a world leader in hydroelectric power. While estimates vary, in 2015, Norway had approximately 132 TWh/year of hydroelectric power generating capacity, which was about 95% of total capacity in the country. Per year, this figure ranges between 90% and 99%. In addition to the large generating capacity of hydropower in the country, it has a large storage capacity, sitting at an estimated 86 TWh/year in 2015. The large storage capacity is necessary in part due to significant seasonal and annual variations in precipitation. [1]

In part due to increased rainfall due to climate change, Norways hydroelectric generation has generally been increasing year over year, and the country, in part because of the financial success of the hydroelectric power system, has steadily been investing in upgrading older hydro plants, lending naturally to the continued success of the program. [1] In part due to the high hydroelectric power capacity, Norway has become the European leader in electricity exporting, surpassing France in the second half of 2020 with 14 TWh of Next electricity exports. [2]

History of Hydroelectric Power in Norway

For a variety of reasons, many political in nature, small hydro (defined as plants with less than 10 MW in Capacity), has been preferred in Norway in recent years and since 2005, approximately 25 new small hydro plants have been developed per year, with 397 new plants being build between 2001 and 2015. One such plant is shown in Fig. 1. [1] Despite the country's many developments in hydroelectric power in recent years, it has a storied past in the country's electric history. This is in part due to the convenient topography in the country, which houses a wide variety of waterfalls, rivers, and fjords. In fact, the first municipal-owned electric utility in Norway, opened in 1889, used a 88 kW capacity hydropower plant as its source and in 1898, a British company began operating a hydropower station off of a famous Saperfossen Waterfall (seen in Fig. 2). [3]

Fig. 2: Photo of Sarp Falls in Viken, Norway (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Since the beginning of the electrification of the country, most of its generation capacity came from hydropower. However, because the availability of hydropower is closely tied to the availability of water, and most of the precipitation the country receives during the winter (when demand is largest due to the need for heating) is in snow form, which can not be harnessed, the country has had to develop a large storage capacity for its hydropower. The storage capacity the country has built stands at about 60% of total annual inflow as of 2017. [3] While small hydro and upgrade projects have been the focus of Norwegian hydropower in the past 30 years, almost all of the countrys hydropower system was built between 1950 and 1985, when the country's annual hydropower generation capacity rose from roughly 20 TWh to 120 TWh. Many of the projects bringing about this increase in capacity were financed in part by loans from the world bank and as of 2017, roughly 90% of the hydropower stock in the country is presently owned publicly (nationally and by states and municipalities). [3]

Conclusions and Hydropower in Context

As of 2020, about 97 MW, or roughly 87% of Norways total domestic electricity consumption, comes from hydropower, although the exact figure varies by year. [2] Total annual electricity consumption in the country is roughly 120 TWh per year, and electricity constitutes 70% of the country's total energy consumption, with heating being the main industry largely fueled by electricity. [4] In years where there is excess hydroelectric generation, it is mainly exported through cross-border connections to Sweden and Denmark. However, the country has also been recently experimenting with connections for exporting excess capacity to other countries such as the UK and Germany. [5] In summary, Norway has built enough hydroelectric power capacity to nearly entirely meet its electricity needs and is often able to export excess generated electricity. The country, in part due to its wealth and in part due to favorable precipitation has been able to maintain its hydropower stock in good working order for the past 30 years although little additional capacity has been added. [1] With its large reservoir storage system, Norways current hydropower based electricity system seems poised to stay and succeed for the foreseeable future.

© L.J. Bonanno. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.

References

[1] K. Alfredsen et al., "A Synoptic History of the Development, Production and Environmental Oversight of Hydropower in Brazil, Canada, and Norway," Hydrobiologia 849, 269 (2021).

[2] "Norway Urges EU to Revise Plan Risking Hydropower's Green Status," Reuters, 18 Dec 20.

[3] B. A. Fladen et al., "Overview of Norway's Electricity History," Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, 2017.

[4] R. Morison and J, Starn, "U.K. to Import Norway's Cheap Hydro-Power Along Sub-Sea Cable," Bloomberg, 15 June 21.

[5] "Norway To Add New Wind, Hydropower Capacity in Next Few Months," Reuters, 2 Nov 21.