Record high consumption of electricity

Gross consumption of electricity was 8,443 GWh in September, the highest figure ever recorded for this month. Production of electricity was also high, 9,321 GWh. The only time production was higher was in September 1993. Although consumption was record high the export surplus increased, rising from 642 GWh in August to 878 GWh in September because of the high output.

While the consumption level of electricity was relatively moderate in August due to the record warm month and consequent low consumption of electricity for heating purposes, it rose by 11 per cent from September last year to September this year. In the last 12 months, gross domestic consumption has been 3.4 per cent lower than during the same period of time one year earlier. This is connected with the fact that consumption last winter was relatively low because of the increase in power prices and high temperatures for this time of year.

High production

The production of electricity rose by fully 51 per cent in September compared to the same month last year. Production last year was, however, unusually low this month. Among counties with high power production (over 10,000 GWh per year), production was particularly high in Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane, which saw increases of 127 and 69 per cent respectively. This year's high production is connected to the high percentage of filling in the reservoirs. In the middle of September reservoirs were filled to 87.2 per cent of capacity, which is four per cent over the median for 1981-91 and fully 28 percentage points over the level at the same time last year.

New Statistics

Monthly electricity statistics, September 1997.
Statistics are prepared in cooperation with the Norwegian Power Grid Company and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Administration and are published monthly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. They 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. 60, 1997