Higher energy prices? Yes please

Event 1: A global energy market?

Many contributions to the local debate here in Norway has argued that we should avoid adding to the transmission capacity of electricity between Norway and the rest of Europe. There are talks about this initiative being driven by profit-hunger from the already rich energy companies (and bonus/salary payments to management in these companies). This is quite possibly one of the driving forces, but I believe there are far more important considerations.


Our time's biggest challenge is global warming, and in the background there is a looming energy crisis. How much energy saving- (and hence CO2 reduction-) projects will be initiated if electricity prices in Norway are totally out of sync with the rest of Europe? Look to the USA and what low gasoline prices have done to the the use- and size of of cars, and how high energy prices have changed the daily routines to the better in Europe (if you don't walk up the stairs fast enough, the lights will be switched off).


Does Norway want to be the scapegoat in environmental issues, and countries such as France is considered one of the leaders in CO2 reductions? France has had energy-conscious people for years, and now they also have extra incentives for implementing energy-saving measures in the house (interestfree loans up to 30,000 Euros over 10 years) which, together with high electricity prices make it financially attractive for private households to order "jahus" projects (extra insulation, heatpumps etc). The government in France achieves not only increased economic activity, but is also reducing the unemployment problem and the ability to fulfill their part of the CO2-cutting task that we all have to deal with the (all people to the oars - for we are all in the same boat).


There are also more technical arguments why we need to add more cables between Norway and Europe. This fall, we had two examples of large quantities of clean energy being lost because we lacked the capacity for the exchange of energy between Denmark and Norway.

• In Denmark there was a storm and since it was weekend, it was not enough demand for power from the grid - so they had to simply disconnect the wind turbines (the power grid has no function to store energy).


• That same week, there was a headline story on teh TV2 news that the BKK had to let the water in their reservoirs flow down the mountainside - outside the turbines because the electricity generated was more than the demand in the powergrid.

When there is no wind in Europe, they should be able to use hydropower from Norway (which we can save and "let go" when it suits us). Similarly, they should be able to export energy to us when there is plenty of wind - we can use this energy to pump water into reservoirs in the mountains. Norway then stores excess energy until some time in the future when there is no wind in Denmark (or clouds in Spain - so that solar plants do not produce electricity).


It can be repeated until it becomes tedious, we are all in the same boat and 1 ton of CO2 not emitted from a coal fired power plant in Europe (because they have access to clean energy from Norway) is equally important to our planet as 1 tonne of reduced CO2 emissions from rush hour traffic in Oslo, if we all use or bikes to work. Wouldn't everyone in Norway rather have Europe buy electricity from Norway (the majority goes straight to the Treasury = us) than to have BKK sending water outside the turbines while at the same time there are power plants in Europe fueled by coal (sending one kilogram of CO2 into the atmosphere for every 1KWh produced)?

I therefore strongly believe that we must (as soon as possible):

1. Get the current electricity prices of our synchronized with the rest of Europe


2. Increase the capacity of power transmissions between Europe and Norway


3. The government should, through the Norwegian State Housing Bank, channel some of the extra revenue (higher electricity prices/increased exports) to measures that further incentivates private households to start "jahus" projects (interest-free loans as in France and VAT / tax exemption as in Germany and the USA).

Progress:

Yesterday, I called the technical director at a norwegian manufacturer of ventilation systems (Flexit). We discussed the solution being implemented here and he fully supported my claim - that the heated air from the heatpump should be mixed with the fresh outside air AFTER the heat-exchanger.

There has been no progress to report all week, and the team has refused to comment on the issue of "point of entry" for the heated air. Next Tuesday is the hand-over day and as far as I can see there is quite a lot of work remaining (pump, noice, point-of-entry etc.)....