OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian national power grid operator Statnett said on Friday the country should refrain from introducing restrictions on electricity exports, which the government has said it may do this winter to prevent blackouts.
“We do not recommend the introduction of export restrictions,” Statnett Chief Executive Hilde Tonne said while presenting other measures to ensure electricity supplies amid unusually low hydropower reservoir levels.
Hydropower accounts for more than 90% of Norwegian electricity production, but the driest 12-month period in 26 years in southern Norway has depleted reservoir levels to record lows and sent prices soaring.
Statnett in May said that the electricity market in southern Norway would be “pressed” this winter, and in June Norway’s energy regulator NVE asked the grid operator to investigate future options for handling a very tight power situation.
Restricting exports to other countries could in turn lead to similar measures being imposed by others, limiting the ability to import power from abroad when needed, Statnett said.
“We have said several times that we can get to a situation where we might be reliant on imports this winter,” Statnett’s head of system operations Peer Oestli said.
(Reporting by Nora Buli, editing by Terje Solsvik)
