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Wind Energy in Norway

2021 wind energy numbers

Wind power in Norway continued with a fairly high level of deployment, resulting in 706 MW of new installed capacity in 2021 and a net total installed capacity of 4649 MW at the end of the year.

The electrical energy produced by the 64 active wind farms in 2021 was 11.8 TWh. That is an increase of 19% from the year before, despite lower-than-normal wind resource availability. Decreasing LCOE of wind power projects, favourable depreciation rules, and the end of the electricity certificate scheme have driven the latest years’ high-level deployment of wind power in Norway.

There is significant activity in the regulatory space for both onshore and offshore wind power. Several processes are ongoing for the improvement of the licensing scheme for onshore wind power. Simultaneously the framework for offshore wind is under development. Neither of these processes was completed in 2021.

To learn more about wind energy in Norway, please review their chapter in the IEA Wind TCP 2021 Annual Report.

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Megawatt

Total wind power capacity is 4,649 MW.
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Megawatt

Wind power capacity in Norway increased by 706 MW in 2021.
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Terawatt-time

Norway produces 11.8 TWh from wind energy, which accounts for 8.5% of the country’s electricity consumption.

National Targets

The total electricity production in 2021 in Norway was 157.1 TWh. Renewable sources of electricity amounted to 98.9 % of the national electricity production, where 7.5 % of the electricity produced came from wind power. With a Norwegian electricity demand totalling 139.5 TWh for the year, Norway exported 17.6 TWh of electricity to our neighbouring countries.

There has been an incentive mechanism for increasing renewable energy production in Norway. This was a joint support scheme with Sweden with the aim of financing 28.4 TWh/yr of new renewable energy production by the end of 2021. In the scheme, 13.2 TWh was to be financed by Norwegian power consumers. This market-based electricity certificate scheme was both countries- and technology-neutral. The objective was to allow the market to dictate the type of renewable energy production and where it is built. In practice, this means that Norway has no explicit target for national renewable production or for wind production as such. However, the electricity certificate scheme has been successful in incentivising investment decisions for the deployment of new wind energy installations in Norway over the last few years. The combined 28.4 TWh/yr target has been met. The deadline to subscribe to the scheme in Norway was the 31st of December 2021. In Sweden, the scheme closes for subscription in 2035.

Progress & Operational Details

Deployment of Norwegian wind power plants has increased dramatically in the last five years, and the last three years have been the strongest on record. In 2021, 706 MW of new capacity was commissioned. All this growth has been onshore.

Six projects were fully commissioned in 2021, and four additional projects started producing electricity. Adding to this, one project was repowered. The sizes of the projects varied from 3 to 72 wind turbines.

All projects use modern turbine technology, and all projects use generators of 4.2 MW or larger. The maximum generator capacity was 5.7 MW, and this was used in two of the ten projects. Rotor diameters varied from 117 to 150 meters. Tower heights show no significant increase since 2020, with 144 meters hub height as the highest installed wind turbine this year.

Wind resources in 2021 were lower than normal, resulting in a capacity-weighted production index for Norwegian wind farms in 2021 of 93.6 %. The average capacity factor for Norwegian wind farms in normal operation was 32.9%.

TetraSpar, a new demonstrator for a floating offshore wind turbine concept, was installed. The demonstrator has a new floating foundation concept with a tubular steel main structure and a suspended keel. The capacity of the demonstrator is 3.6 MW.

National RDD Priorities and Budget

There is a lot of movement in the Norwegian R, D&D space. The Research Council of Norway administers a public research program for sustainable energy, ENERGIX. This program covers renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems, and sustainable transport (hydrogen, fuel cells, biofuels, and batteries). This program is open for industry, research institutes, and universities Photo: Istockphoto.com 4 IEA WIND TCP NORWAY 2021 that can receive funding for their research based upon proposals to regular calls.

For demonstrators and prototypes, there are two governmental support mechanisms. Firstly, The Norwegian energy agency, Enova, offers capital grants for full-scale demonstration projects of ocean renewable energy production, including offshore wind. While up to 50 % of eligible costs can be covered, Enova’s funding measured in absolute figures is limited. Secondly, Innovation Norway runs a program supporting prototypes with environmentally friendly technology. Wind energy is included in this definition; here, projects are supported with up to 45% of eligible costs.

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Member Ann Myhrer Østenby

amo@nve.no

Alternate Member Harald Rikheim

hri@forskningsradet.no