Electricity, March 2002

The gross consumption went down by 10.9 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year, and the consumption has not been lower since 1997 for this month. Mild weather explains the decline, in which the temperature was significantly above the normal for this month, and below the normal last year. The electricity prices were much the same as for the corresponding month last year. The tendency has been increasing prices this year, and the effect of this may have influenced the consumption also in March. Light heating oil and heating and lighting kerosene can be alternatives to electricity, but the deliveries of these products fell by 21.0 and 25.3 per cent respectively in March. During the last twelve-month period the consumption of electricity went down by 3.4 per cent. The consumption of electricity in energy-intensive manufacturing decreased by 7.5 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year.

Lower production

The production of electricity was 11 787 GWh in March, and this is down 1.3 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year. The production for the three first months was 36 759 GWh, which is 4.5 per cent less than for the same period last year. In this period the production of electricity from wind power increased by 78.8 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year. The contribution of electricity from wind power is still modest, 0.03 per cent of the total production of electricity during these three months. The water reservoir level was on average 47.1 per cent of total capacity in March.

Export surplus

The export of electricity reached 773 GWh and the import was 606 GWh in March. The greater part of the trade is with Sweden, but Norway also trade power with Denmark, Finland and Russia. The export surplus share of total production was 1.4 per cent in March, and 2.8 per cent for the three first months this year.

Tables:

• Table 1 Production, import, export and consumption of electric energy. GWh. Preliminary figures