This year's July offers the most expensive electricity in over ten years for its customers in southern Norway. The higher CO2 prices in Europe are partly to blame.
Electricity prices in southern Norway have remained extremely high this year, and electricity prices in July are expected to be the highest this year. This results from data from the Nord Pool stock exchange. You have to go back to the winter of 2010 to find individual months with higher electricity prices than in July this year. This is based on the historical data chart from Nord Pool.
Average price of energy
So far, the average electricity price in July was as high as 60 øre per kilowatt hour in Kristiansand and 58 øre per kilowatt hour for customers in Oslo and Bergen. In summer, it is well above the normal price level.
The price has multiplied since July last year, when it was only øre 1,5 per kilowatt hour in southern Norway. According to the calculations, 2020 was also a very unusual year with a large surplus of power and cheap power Electricity. The year before was more normal, and in July 2019, customers in southern Norway paid an average of øre 34 per kilowatt hour for electricity.
There are still significant differences in electricity prices between the five Norwegian price areas. While July will be the most expensive month in many years for electricity prices in Sørlandet, Østlandet and Sørvestlandet, prices in Central Norway are slightly lower. And northern Norway still enjoys by far the lowest electricity prices in the country.
The price of CO2 is to blame
An important reason for the high electricity prices in southern Norway is that the price of CO2 quota in Europe has risen to a record high of over NOK 500 per tonne. This makes fossil fuel energy more expensive and ensures higher electricity prices in Europe. The Norwegian prices are sent via 17 Norwegian foreign connections, which are mainly connected to the southern part of Norway.
- It's part of the green shift. Europe is replacing old coal energy with renewable energy, but there is still not enough renewable energy to meet demand. Coal and gas energy are becoming more and more expensive as the price of CO2 is very high, says Lilleholt.
- Prices in Europe are even higher. So the price of 60 øre per kilowatt hour in Sørlandet is one of the cheapest energies you can find in Europe. Except for northern Norway, says Lilleholt.
