business
Alarmed by Power Crisis in Northern Norway: "A Predicted Catastrophe"
The State halts new power reservations in Northern Norway and cuts the consumption limit in Eastern Finnmark. This puts development on hold and creates acute pressure on the business sector in the region.
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The fear of a power collapse prompted the state owned operator of the Norwegian energy system, Statnett, to sound the alarm last week. The company announced a temporary halt to reservations for grid capacity for new large industrial projects north of Svartisen in Nordland, Northern Norway.
This means that businesses that have not already reserved power must prepare for an indefinite queue.
"This is one of the worst things Northern Norway has experienced in decades", says CEO of Northern Norwegian Energy group Nordkraft, Eirik Frantzen, to NRK.
Expecting a sharp increase
The background is a sharp increase in expected power consumption, particularly from the seafood industry, transport, and the military.
Statnett estimates that consumption in the region will increase by about 60 percent over the next ten years, which may exceed what the current power system can deliver.
Without new power production, more electricity must be transported in, creating bottlenecks both from Helgeland in the Norwegian Arctic, and Sweden.
Projects that have already been allocated capacity will retain it. However, around 30 industrial projects in the north are still queueing up, and even if capacity becomes available, it will not be allocated to others in the current situation.
In Eastern Finnmark, close to the Russian border to Norway, the situation is even more dramatic.
There, Statnett is reducing the limit for normal consumption from five to one megawatt (MW), as the grid is fully utilised and cannot withstand more load without the risk of overload and power outages.
"Capacity is reserved for an increase in consumption of around 30 MW. We have to expect this to be quickly utilised. To maintain supply security for existing and new customers, and to have the opportunity to perform necessary maintenance, we are now lowering the limit for normal consumption", says Anne Sofie Ravndal Risnes, director of regional plans at Statnett, in a press release.
This has consequences for the local business community in Sør-Varanger Municipality, Estern Finnmark.
We are deprived of the opportunity to do what is expected from an environmental perspective.
Environmental footprint
One of the companies facing the consequences is mining company Sydvaranger Mine in Kirkenes, Finnmark, which has ambitions to electrify the entire production. However, the lack of electricity has been a well known fact for a long time.
"This is nothing new. We received the same message in 2022, that there is no more electricity", says operations manager at Sydvaranger Mine, Thomas Bækø to High North News.
Sydvaranger Mine has enough power to start production, but lacks the power needed to electrify the operation. Thus, the machinery must still run on fossil fuels.
"We can operate the exact same volume of ore without electricity, the difference is the environmental footprint. We are deprived of the opportunity to do what is expected from an environmental perspective."
He describes the situation like this:
"We're going ass first into the future. We have to buy mining equipment worth billions that is not electric, and it locks us in for many years to come. It is not realistic to replace the equipment until its lifespan ends", he explains.
"Predicted catastrophe"
Last week, local businesses and public actors met to discuss the power situation. Sydvaranger Mine received an updated timeline for when new capacity might be in place.
"We long believed this was about the 420 kV line (Statnett is expanding the 420 kV main grid in Finnmark to increase security of supply and facilitate new industry. Red. note), and that we could get more power at the earliest in 2032. Now we have to wait until 2040. That is an eight-year delay from what was initially communicated.
Bækø emphasises that the mining operations will continue, and expects a start in early 2027. But he believes the consequences for the rest of the region are far more serious.
"It is a critical situation for new projects and companies interested in establishing themselves in Kirkenes. One megawatt is not enough to heat and service a modern facility. The situation locks all of Eastern Finnmark. It's checkmate."
He objects to the situation being described as an "emerging power crisis".
"Companies and individuals have done what they were told for three decades, by electrifying society. This is a predicted catastrophe, and I don't buy those arguments."
