Record high investments in the power industry

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The investments in the power industry came to NOK 25.8 billion in 2016. This is 16 per cent more than in 2015 and the highest figure ever recorded.

Among other things, the large investments may be seen in conjunction with the upgrading of the power grid and the building of new wind parks. Investments in the power grid were NOK 12.9 billion in 2016. Investments in hydro power plants came to NOK 4.8 billion, while investments in thermal power plants and wind power plants were NOK 0.4 and 2.4 billion respectively.

Figure1. Investment in fixed assets

1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Powerplants 6854 6570 7964 8671 10677 12251 12255 13272 12926 11433 9510 8053 7274 7477 7417 6625 4323 2902 3386 3109 1821 1768 1755 1974 1402 1738 1833 1105 1593 1771 2553 2209 4639 4338 7406 7140 4255 5195 6805 7897 7046 5578 5900 8177
Central grid 2306 2953 3260 4095 4201 4672 4486 4003 3988 3595 2896 2878 2769 2521 2624 2233 1383 1434 984 427 2252 1198 542 270 362 368 587 356 346 460 706 1226 448 1545 1446 1595 1406 853 2012 2636 4767 4189 4246 4890
Regional and local grid system 2497 2698 3083 3129 3459 3664 3618 3812 3617 3857 4322 4492 4229 4964 5006 5051 4532 3830 3402 3192 2975 3111 3180 3260 3291 2947 2745 2861 2644 2820 2776 2773 2872 2631 3466 4219 4741 4521 4960 5684 5529 6588 7873 7542

Large increase in operating profit

The operating profit of enterprises in the power industry came to NOK 29.6 billion in 2016; an increase of 34 per cent compared with the previous year. This may be seen in conjunction with considerably higher electricity prices in 2016. The average price in the elspot market rose by 30 per cent from 2015 to 2016. Production plants had an operating profit of NOK 19.7 billion in 2016. The operating profit of grid companies amounted to NOK 5.1 billion, while the operating profit of remaining plants totalled NOK 4.8 billion.

Annual profit in the power industry came to NOK 16.5 billion in 2016. This is 39 per cent more than in 2015.

Figure 2. Income statment for enterprises in electricity industry

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Operating income 69631 81813 80897 101223 90641 83100 85193 72474 89019 91450 106807 94306 102588 135363 113287 145724 128784 167939 140759 117292 126962 113114 104104 119507
Operating expenses 55528 68504 65507 85962 75634 68164 70900 57050 65997 67511 82781 69547 72368 99405 83518 105842 96226 127037 108073 89037 96443 86102 81923 90924
Operating profit 14103 13309 15389 15261 15007 14936 14292 15423 23022 23939 24026 24759 30220 35958 29770 39882 32558 40902 32686 28255 30519 27012 22180 28583

Record high electricity generation

Electricity generation totalled 149 TWh in 2016; an increase of 3.1 per cent compared with 2015 and the highest figure ever recorded. The large hydro power generation in 2016 may be seen in conjunction with a record high Norwegian reservoir filling at the beginning of the year. The building of power plants and upgrading of old power plants also contribute to a higher production level over time. A common Norwegian-Swedish market for electricity certificates was established in January 2012 and has stimulated the development of renewable power.

Norway’s power exports came to 22.2 TWh in 2016, while imports totalled 5.7 TWh. This gave a net export of 16.5 TWh.

Rise in electricity consumption

There was an increase of 2.8 per cent in total net electricity consumption from 2015 to 2016, with a total consumption of 123.4 TWh in 2016. Household and agriculture roughly accounted for a third of the total electricity consumption. Other industries with a high share are power-intensive manufacturing (30 per cent) and services (roughly 20 per cent).

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