Higher energy use in industry and transport

Net domestic consumption of energy amounted last year to 776 petajoules (PJ), up 0.6 per cent from the year before. Consumption rose the most in industry and transport. In contrast, consumption in the private household and service sectors declined by nearly three per cent from the year before, preliminary figures show. Consumption of electricity, aviation turbine kerosine and gas increased the most, while the use of heating oils plunged.

Consumption of electricity last year was 103.3 TWh, and amounted to almost 48 per cent of Norway's total energy consumption. This is an increase of 0.4 per cent from the year before, preliminary figures show. Consumption rose by a considerable amount in power-intensive industry and wood processing, where the increases came to two and six per cent respectively. This is connected to the high production growth in these sectors and lower prices for electricity. The spot price for occasional power last year was 13.6 øre/kWh on average, against 25.2 øre/kWh the year before. Oil was thus replaced by electricity in electric boilers. The low spot price also caused many electric utilities to reduce their prices for contract power. Last summer the total price for household electricity was about 52 øre/kWh, 13 per cent lower than at the beginning of the year.

New Statistics

Energy balance, 1997. Preliminary figures.
Final figures are published in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics and Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Electricity Statistics. For more information, contact: Kristin Rypdal, tel. +47 21 09 49 49, e-mail: kristin.rypdal@ssb.no.rypdal, or Anne Christin Bøeng, tel. +47 21 09 47 43, e-mail: ann.christin.boeng@ssb.no.boeng.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 12, 1998