Norwegian politicians start campaign to dismantle undersea power cables with mainland Europe after Germany’s decision to scrap its nuclear power plants causes electricity prices to spike in southern Norway.

The Skagerrak 1 and 2 links (500 MW) were commissioned in 1976 and 1977 respectively and will reach the end of their technical lifetimes in 2026 and 2027.

Norwegian regional politicians from across the aisle now urge the government not to renew the country’s two oldest power links to Denmark and Germany in a bid to reduce local power prices.

Norway currently has 9 GW of exchange capacity with neighbouring countries, of which 5.1 GW is to Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

Energy minister Terje Aasland says he understands people’s anger as “it’s a shitty situation”

Weather conditions in Germany caused a “Dunkelflaute” today (cold weather with no wind nor sunlight) that makes it impossible to get energy from wind and solar power during a cold and dark day with a lot of demand.

As Germany has very little base load power left after dismantling all its nuclear energy plants, the country instead falls back under importing energy from other countries under EU rules, driving up prices there.

Sweden’s Deputy PM and Energy Minister @BuschEbba
stated today that she’s “furious with the Germans.”

Due to Merkel’s and Scholz’s decisions to scrap Germany’s nuclear power, people in southern Sweden and southern Norway now have pay $5 for a 10-minute shower.

During today’s peak, prices were between EUR 700-900 for 1 megawatt-hour in parts of Scandinavia.

#politics #energy #climate #sovereignty
https://xcancel.com/visegrad24/status/1867277309771735127