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New estimates: Central Norway may face electricity cost hike without Fosen wind farms

The Local (news@thelocal.com)
The Local ([email protected])
New estimates: Central Norway may face electricity cost hike without Fosen wind farms
Protestors want to see the wind turbines pulled down. Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh on Unsplash

If the two disputed wind power farms at Fosen are dismantled, the price of electricity in central Norway could increase by ten øre per kilowatt hour in the coming years, according to recent estimates.

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In the last week, protesters and campaigners have demonstrated against the wind turbines at Storheia and Roan, a part of the wind farm portfolio of Fosen Vind.

They want to have the wind power plants at Roan and Storheia in Fosen demolished, as their construction infringed upon the human rights of indigenous Sami reindeer herders.

A Supreme Court verdict established that the wind turbines negatively affect the grazing areas for reindeer herding.

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Pricier electricity?

If the protesters and campaigners get their way and get approval for the demolition of the wind turbines, electricity in central Norway could become more expensive, the news bureau NTB reports.

The consulting company Afry estimates that such an outcome could increase the power price in price area NO3 by - on average - 10 øre per kilowatt hour over the next three years. That is somewhat higher than previous estimates from other analysis companies.

Should such a price increase materialise, the annual electricity bill could rise by around 2,500 kroner; that is, the monthly price could increase by just over 200 kroner for a household in central Norway with an annual consumption of 25,000 kilowatt hours, according to Afry.

"We estimate this would increase the price in the NO3 zone by approximately 10 øre per kilowatt-hour up to and including 2026. After that, the effect would be somewhat reduced, and then it would be down to 3-4 øre per kilowatt-hour higher prices than what they would otherwise be.

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"We see that removing the wind turbines would also have an effect further north and make electricity perhaps 7–8 øre more expensive in northern Norway. Further south in the country, on the other hand, it would have very little effect," Kathrine Stene Bakke in Afry Management Consulting told the newspaper E24.

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