Norway needs to increase its power production by 50 % before the end of the decade if it is to reach its climate goals and industrial ambitions, according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Increasingly ambitious climate goals and multiple new green industry projects mean that the need for power will increase drastically in the next few years, according to the report. A cleaner Norwegian economy will involve electrification of the transport sector and of the oil and gas industry. Carbon-free fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen will have to be produced in large quantities, and new industries such as battery factories will also require extra power.
The energy crisis of the past few months has brought to light the fact that the Norwegian energy system, even today, does not have unlimited room for maneuver.
The PwC report reveals that if all objectives are to be attained, the country will require 75 TWh more power by 2030. Current production in a so-called “normal” year is at about 150 TWh.
“This is a very large gap,” says one of the report’s co-authors, PwC director Øystein Fossen Thorud. “So far no one has pointed out how large it is, what needs to be done to fill it, and what consequences this will have for the industry and society in general.”
