Vannmagasinene i sør: Laveste fylling på minst 30 år

The smallest filling in the largest southern Norwegian water reservoirs (NO2 region) is now lower than in the same dry summer of 1996 and well below the level during the 2022 energy crisis. By the end of week 35, the drained reservoirs in the southern Norway coincide with the European gas price reaching its highest level of the year, and there is unusually little gas in European reservoirs.

In August, the electricity price in the NO2 region was at its highest since the 2022 energy crisis. - We do not know what autumn brings. It has happened before that it has rained a lot, so we must wait a little. We may be lucky and get a wet autumn, says Knut Lockert from the industry association District Energy. - And it is also lucky that we have large import opportunities, so we will likely have access to electricity in the winter.

The question is at what price. The situation of filling in other regions is not as demanding as in NO2. - It is a strained situation in NO2, says Tor Reier Lilleholt from Volue Insight. - It is not unreasonable for NO2 to also be in a situation where NVE asks for reporting from producers, as we have seen in NO3 (Mid-Norway). But we will not run out of water in winter, as Norge has significant import opportunities.

The reservoir filling in the southern Norwegian price area now represents 15.6 terawatt-hours (TWh), while the same week in the dry year 1996 had a filling of 15.7 TWh. The reservoir level in NO2 for some of the driest years for the Norwegian power system: Parties such as Frp and Rødt have demanded that the power sector retain water to avoid high electricity prices, and shown that Norway had a record high net export of electricity last year. - Did the power sector make a mistake by exporting so much last year? - It is impossible to say.

This is a weather-dependent system, and resource access can vary by 60% from season to season. One cannot always know what happens with wars, crises, and gas reservoirs in Europe, so I do not think one can say that they made a mistake. - It could be a tough political winter. If these factors contribute to pushing the electricity price to a high level compared to what we are used to, households will receive electricity support and Norgespris, but not businesses.

The reservoir level in the southern price area represents now 15.6 terawatt-hours (TWh), while the same week in the drier year 1996 had a filling of 15.7 TWh.