Increasing electricity export surplus

Norway's export surplus of electrical power increased substantially from July to August this year. In July the export surplus (exports minus imports) totalled 208 GWh, and was in the black for the first time since February 1996. In August the surplus was 642 GWh. The upswing in exports is connected with increased water storage in the reservoirs and subsequently higher power production.

The export surplus in August was also higher than the average for the month of August in all years since 1979 (when recording began). The average export surplus for August in 1979-1997 is 574 GWh. In addition to the fact that the export surplus has increased substantially in terms of quantity, both the average price of exports and imports has increased considerably. The value of the export surplus rose from NOK 17.4 million in July to NOK 83.9 million in August.

Higher production

Total production of electric power in August was 7,859 GWh, an increase of 31.3 per cent from the same month last year. The upswing is, however, connected to the fact that production was particularly low last autumn due to low water storage in the reservoirs. At the end of August (Week 36) this year, reservoirs were filled to 83.1 per cent of capacity, which is 24 percentage points higher than at the same time last year.

New Statistics

Monthly electricity statistics, August 1997.
The statistics are compiled in cooperation with the Norwegian Power Grid Company and Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Administration, and are published monthly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. The data are also available in the Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Monthly Bulletin of Statistics. More information: Pål Marius Bergh, tel. +47 21 09 44 20, e-mail: pmb@ssb.no and Ann Christin Bøeng, tel. +47 21 09 47 43, e-mail: abg@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 41, 1997