Known for its beautiful glaciers, fjords, and mountains, Norway is a country of contradictions, especially when it comes to its citizens’ attitude toward energy.
On one hand, many Norwegians support strong environmental policies to protect their nation’s abundant natural resources. On the other hand, these same people have the highest per capita energy consumption in the world, which is due to their heavy reliance on electricity for home heating systems in the cold Nordic climate.
Furthermore, demand for electricity is increasing by approximately 2% per year. The country’s current population is estimated to be 4,644,400. Meeting the country’s growing appetite for energy will require Norwegian power companies to use innovative approaches to generate more electricity in an environmentally sustainable manner. The combined-cycle Kårstø plant, north of Stavanger, is a step in that direction.
Norway’s power industry
Nearly all of Norway’s power comes from renewable sources: Over 99% is generated by hydroelectric facilities. Opportunities for developing additional hydropower infrastructure, however, have been almost fully exploited, and during dry periods, Norway imports power mainly from coal-fired and nuclear power plants.
Norway also has substantial fossil fuel resources and is the world’s second-largest oil exporter. Oil and natural gas production has been increasing steadily. And Norway still owns approximately half of the remaining reserves of oil and gas in Europe. In the future, gas will play an even more dominant role in Norway, especially in light of the nation’s continually rising demand for electricity.
By 2050, electricity production in Norway is expected to be supplemented by a growing number of gas-fired power plants. Current domestic consumption of natural gas will increase correspondingly, but only if CO2 emissions reduction measures are implemented simultaneously. Norway was one of the first countries to exhibit very high public sensitivity toward global warming and is endeavoring to adapt policies to meet its emissions targets. Greenhouse gas emissions reduction remains an ongoing goal in the national environmental policy and, if the technology is available, it will be installed accordingly.
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