News and reports from NVE

In a new report NVE presents results from measurements of Norwegian glaciers in 2022. The report describes measurements of glacier mass balance and glacier front variations. There is also information about measurement of glacier movement, jøkulhlaups and meteorological measurements at some glaciers. The last chapter of the report deals with the anniversary of 60 years of measurements of Norwegian glaciers in NVE. Since the early 1960s, this report series has been published in print. As of this edition, the report will only be available as a digital version.

The national regulatory authority (NVE-RME) is carrying out a consultation with market participants about their needs for cross-zonal risk hedging opportunities on Norwegian bidding zone borders.

NVE, Statnett and Statkraft have started a professional network for power market modelling with the intension to share knowledge and develop good practice within power market modelling. We also want to contribute to an industry standard in a modelling framework.

NVE, Statnett and Statkraft invites everyone who works with power market models to a user centric conference.  

The planning of modern smart meters in Norway began in the early 20’s, with 2019 being the year when NVE made it a legal requirement for every grid company. Three and a half years later, almost 99 % of all metering points in the low-distribution grid have a smart meter.  

In a new report NVE presents results from measurements of Norwegian glaciers in 2021. The report describes measurements of glacier mass balance and glacier length changes. There is also information about measurement of glacier movement, jøkulhlaups and meteorological measurements at some glaciers. The last chapter of the report deals with historic photo documentation of glaciers over the period 1949-1979.

The purpose of the framework guideline is to make it easier for consumers and prosumers to participate more actively in the power market. An ordinary consumer will, for example, be able to offer Statnett (the national TSO in Norway) or the local DSO to switch off EV charging or the water heater during constrained power situations and get paid for this service. In the long run, this will also contribute to a more efficient and stable operation of the power system.

ACER and CEER have written a draft policy paper that identifies the main problems experienced in the EU’s electricity forward market,  proposing some possible solutions to the challenges. Stakeholders are invited to share their views.

In a new report NVE presents results from measurements of Norwegian glaciers in 2020. The report describes measurements of glacier mass balance and glacier length changes. There is also information about measurement of glacier movement, jøkulhlaups and meteorological measurements at some glaciers.

On 11 June 2021, the Norwegian Government adopted four Commission regulations from the EU's Third Energy Package into the EEA agreement. The Norwegian Government also passed amendments to the Energy Act. 

Earlier this year, The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) published a paper on “What regulators stood for in 2020!”.

In this report on billing issues in the Clean Energy Package, CEER focuses on how billing is one of the main tools for communication between supplier and consumers. With bills becoming more complex due to increased information, the report looks at how bills can be more clear, concise, and transparent for consumers, benefiting Europeans, including Norwegians.

In the Report on Electricity Distribution Tariffs, the Network Regulation WG focuses on how tariffs should be designed to stimulate efficient market utilization. The overall objective is not just to give customers correct price signals through the distribution tariff, but also to get customers to react to the price signals they receive.

This report provides a general overview of the regulatory systems for electricity and gas networks in most EU Member States, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Iceland and Norway in 2020.

RME has been an important contributor towards this paper, providing insights on what the implications are for incentives, prerequisites and interactions among the involved parties with DSO access to and use of flexibility. 

The Nordic national regulatory authorities (NRAs) have launched a consultation on the methodology for capacity calculation in the day-ahead and intraday timeframe.

The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) recently published its 'Paper on Electricity Distribution Tariffs Supporting the Energy Transition'. 

Aggregators have the potential of playing a key role in a fast-changing power system by making it easier for consumers to offer flexibility to the power system. Specifically, this means that aggregators can enter into agreements with electricity customers, allowing them to shift consumption away from peak and constrained periods. 

The Norwegian Energy Regulatory Authority (RME) has contributed towards a report that describes regulatory frameworks within the energy sector in EU Member States, Iceland and Norway. This is an annual report, published on CEER’s website. CEER is a platform for cooperation and information exchange between independent energy regulators of Europe.

A data package of subglacial pressure data and other related data from the Svartisen area is now available.

The European Union (EU) Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) has three ongoing public consultations according to the EU Regulation on Electricity Balancing to provide common rules across Member States.

NVE is actively involved in CEER’s 3D Strategy, of which Digitalisation is one of three pillars. This Paper highlights a pathway to getting the best out of digitalisation in the energy sector, with a focus on benefitting and protecting consumers, by increasing the productivity of the energy system, enabling new services, as well as introducing new platforms and market places that transform the sector.

Two new reports from NVE present mapping of glacier lakes and surface velocities using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery over the period 2015-2018.

Earlier this year, CEER published its Conclusions Paper on New Services and DSO Involvement.

At the initiative of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in Norway and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), a bilateral conference was held in Bucharest, Romania June 18-19, 2019.

NVE and ICIMOD arranged a workshop for relevant stakeholders in the hydropower sector to discuss and identify various needs for services and specific data for sustainable hydropower planning and development.

Generally there is less snow than usual on glaciers in Jotunheimen. Take care when hiking on glaciers this Easter and the rest of spring.

The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) has launched a public consultation on its report ‘Dynamic regulation to enable digitalisation of the energy system’.

ACER recently published a decision that sets the framework for the pricing of capacity among bidding zones in the intraday electricity market.

The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) recently launched a public consultation on a Guide on Bundled Products aimed at protecting consumers. The goal is to work with sectoral regulators, consumer protection authorities, etc. to develop guidance for companies and regulators in all sectors, not just the energy sector. Interested parties are invited to respond to the public consultation by 14 November 2018.

In cooperation with the Nordic TSOs, NordREG (the Nordic energy regulators) is holding a meeting on the TSOs' current practice of calculation of Cross Border Capacities in the Nordic region, taking place on 25 October. Stakeholders are invited to register.

A new fact sheet for data center developers and new industry about grid connection and licensing in Norway.

The SURF project with its research partners Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, Norwegian Meteorological Institute and the City of Oslo Agency for Water and Wastewater services, intends to increase knowledge and to build expertise and competence in urban hydrology in and for relevant Norwegian institutions and municipalities.

A proposal for more detailed security requirements for Advanced Metering System (AMS), to ensure comprehensive protection of the metering value chain, is currently on public hearing in Norway.

According to Article 141(2) of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1485 of 2 August 2017 establishing a guideline on electricity transmission system operation (SO GL), the Nordic Transmission System Operators (TSOs) shall submit a joint proposal for the determination of the load frequency control blocks (LFC block) to the Nordic national regulatory authorities (NRAs) by 14 January 2018. Load-frequency control block’ or ‘LFC block’ means a part of a synchronous area or an entire synchronous area, physically demarcated by points of measurement at interconnectors to other LFC blocks, consisting of one or more LFC areas, operated by one or more TSOs fulfilling the obligations of load-frequency control.

On Tuesday 23^rd January NVE signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Cooperation Agreements with counterpart institutions in Georgia for a new round of institutional Cooperation.

DNV GL, in cooperation with Björn Hagman (Hagman Energy AB) and Professor Erling Hjelmeng (University of Oslo), has been commissioned by NVE to determine whether CACM establishes real competition between NEMOs and whether the regulation ensures effective competition on equal terms.

A number of White Papers are currently being published in the work to create clean energy in Europe, where NVE participates actively in cooperation with CEER and ACER to promote views on the EC's legislative package. Read all about it here:

The Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) is currently undertaking a public hearing on ‘Incentives Schemes for Regulating DSOs, including for Innovation' where goals and tools for regulation of distribution system operators from an NRA perspective are presented.

CEER is currently holding a public consultation on Flexibility Use at Distribution Level.

In January 2017, the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) published a report on investment conditions in European countries.

In December 2016, the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) published a review of current and future data management models.

NVE has submitted its comments to the European Commission's regulatory proposals provided in the so-called 'Winter Package'. Common rules contribute to efficient energy trading and added value in many respects for Norway. Although the EU is generally heading in the right direction, NVE does disagree with certain of the suggestions.

CEER launched a public consultation on ‘Guidelines of Good Practice on Comparison Tools in the new Energy Market Design’ at the end of 2016.

Oslo Economics recently produced a report on 'Economic assessment of fees for network planning studies'.

ACER recently published a Recommendation on the common capacity calculation and redispatching and countertrading cost sharing methodologies. This Recommendation establishes a set of high-level principles that aim to ensure that cross-zonal exchanges are not unduly discriminated against internal exchanges.

On 18 November, ACER issued a Decision on the Capacity Calculation Regions (CCR) Proposal in accordance with Article 9(11) of EU Regulation 2015/1222 on Capacity Allocation and Congestion Management (CACM) and the Agency’s Founding Regulation (Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 713/2009).

ACER (Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators) and CEER (Council of European Energy Regulators) recently presented the main findings of their annual Market Monitoring Report on the internal electricity and natural gas markets.

CEER (Council of European Energy Regulators) has published its 6th Benchmarking Report on the Quality of Electricity and Gas Supply in Europe.

Representatives from energy regulators in Angola, Bhutan, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, Tanzania and Uganda recently gathered in Oslo to share knowledge and experience.

Scientist in several Nordic countries have been working together over the past five years to understand how quickly glaciers can change and how this can affect sea level rise. Improved data on the melting of Norwegian glaciers is just one of the results now that the project has finished.

The 2014 report, the 'Inventory of glacier-related hazardous events in Norway', records all knows hazardous-events, mainly jøkulhlaups (GLOFs), ice avalanches, glacier length changes, and mountaineering accidents. These events can have significant impacts, and cause a threat to human life.