Sweden, Norway compromise on renewable power subsidy scheme

Sweden and Norway will extend a joint subsidy scheme for renewable energy by a decade to 2030, although Norway will stop adding new projects to the system after 2021, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy said on Wednesday. The system, the only one of its kind in the world, pays energy producers a premium for the power they sell on the market, encouraging the construction of wind turbines, solar plants, hydro energy and similar solutions. The two countries had struggled to find a way forward after Norway decided in 2016 to end its involvement, citing forecasts of an oversupply of power in the region, while Sweden wanted an extension.

Introduced in 2012, the current system is scheduled to add a combined 28.4 terrawatt hours (TWh) of power by 2020, and projects in place by this date will be part of the subsidy scheme until 2035. The new agreement allows Sweden to add another 18 TWh of capacity, the Norwegian ministry said, and these new projects will receive a subsidy until 2045. Green energy producers receive so called electricity certificates for each megawatt-hour (MWh) which they can sell on the market to consumers who are required by law to buy them to cover a share of their consumption. While Norway will stop adding new projects, the electricity certificates that are issued under the system will remain valid in both countries until April 1, 2046, it added.

Source:EETI