Norway is lagging behind in renewable energy production

Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien ( Progress Party )Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien ( Progress Party )Photo: regjeringen.no

For a long period, Norway was among the top three in renewable energy in Europe. Nowadays, country after country is passing us.

In 2014, the production of renewable energy in Norway was at 151 terawatts per hour, according to figures from Eurostat. Most of that came from hydropower.

Though the number is high, it also shows that Norway has lost podium position in the renewable race in Europe. Until 2002, only France and Sweden produced more renewable power than us. In 2003, Germany and Italy overtook us and Spain passed us in 2009.

Meanwhile, countries like Britain and Austria climb ever closer to the Norwegian level, with ample opportunities to glide straight past us over the next few years.

Ambitious renewable energy goals

It is the EU’s ambitious climate policy that lies behind Norway’s drop from podium position. While production of renewable energy in Norway has increased by only 14% over the past 25 years, in just a few years, production was tripled in the EU.

The goal is to reach 27% renewable energy in the EU as a whole by 2030.

The biggest ‘renewable-giant’ in Europe is currently Germany, which has increased its production more than six-fold.

Germany now produces almost three times as much renewable energy as Norway.

Petroleum/Oil and Energy minister, Tord Lien, doesn’t think it’s so weird.

‘Germany has, after all, an energy market that is many times the size of ours’, he said to NTB.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today