The congestion income for April was at 136,3 MEUR and so far this year total 592,4 MEUR. This is higher than the record income for the entire year of 2021. Due to high congestion income, Statnett has reduced the grid tariffs from April 1st.
-The situation in the energy markets is still highly unusual and there are at times large price differences between bidding zones. That leads to high congestion income, also when we import to Norway. This is income that will lead to reduced grid tariffs for Norwegian consumers, says EVP Gunnar Løvås at Statnett.
Import to Southern Norway were at nearly 1 TWh in April, most of it import from Southern Sweden, but there were periods of import from several surrounding countries. This has mostly been in periods of high wind power generation and large surpluses in neighbouring areas.
Increased import capacity from Sweden to Eastern Norway
Import capacity from Southern Sweden and internal flow in Sweden has been limited the last year. Statnett has established a close operational cooperation with Svenska kraftnät to implement measures to increase capacity. Several measures are put in place and further improvements are planned. The measures are proving effective and have resulted in increased capacity, amongst others due to Svenska kraftnät implementing new methods for capacity allocation between interconnectors.
-The close cooperation between Statnett and Svenska kraftnät and measures in the operation of the Swedish grid is yealding results and higher import capacity between the countries. This has lead to increased import to Norway in the current market situation. High price differences between North and South is still a challenge, underlines EVP Løvås in Statnett.
Net import from England in the first week of May
So far in May there has been net import from the UK 79 percent of the time, as there has been high generation from offshore wind in the UK. This means lower prices in periods and import to Norway. The import results in better security of supply over time in Norway in a time with low reservoir levels in Southern Norway.