Rain lashing down outside rarely fuels any sort of optimism, but the stormy weather currently pounding Norway should be treated like manna from heaven for those of us in the UK.
Downpours in the Scandinavian country will mean that we will continue to receive a regular supply of energy from our Nordic friends. And this will result in energy bills being kept at a minimum, something to be cheered as we continue to plod through the current cost-of-living crisis.
Water is vital to Norway’s plentiful hydroelectric power, which is enough to supply 96 per cent of its domestic usage. And this allows it to pump most of the natural gas it produces to the UK via 450-mile subsea interconnector cables – and we receive 60 per cent of our gas from Norway.
Like the UK, Norway suffered a summer drought, with reservoir levels dropping to alarming levels. And this caused the government to restrict energy exports to keep domestic prices down as their own nation were suffering financially.
But the storms have arrived, reservoirs are filling up and hydropower is back on the menu. And according to Snjólfur Richard Sverrisson, editor-in-chief at Oslo-based Montel News, Europe’s top power market website, it is great news for the UK.
He said: “This means Norway should be able to export electricity to the UK on calm, cold days this winter. That looks unlikely given the current mild weather.
“And despite having far fewer gas storage facilities than its European neighbours, the UK’s ample interconnector capacity and strong flows of liquid natural gas (LNG) should mean it avoids a winter gas supply squeeze.”
Norway boasts the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, a $1trillion leviathan funded by its plentiful oil and gas reserves. That’s bigger than China’s, but is shared among a country of just 5.5 million rather than 1.44 billion in the Far East.
European energy prices have fallen generally due to the mild autumn weather and a successful race to fill up storage facilities before winter. That should ease the pressure on households and reduce the cost of the UK Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, which limits bills to an average of £2,500 for the average household.
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