Norway

Wind Energy in Norway


Norway.png2017 was a record year for wind power deployment in Norway, with 324 MW of new wind power installed and an additional 1,600 MW under construction at the end of the year. Total installed capacity was 1,188 MW at the end of the year, and wind-generated electricity production totaled 2.850 TWh, compared to 2.125 TWh in 2016.

Wind resources in 2017 were slightly better than normal, with a wind index for Norwegian wind farms of 101%, corresponding to a production index of 102%. The average capacity factor for Norwegian wind farms in normal operation was 33%. Wind-generated electricity amounted to 1.9% of the country’s total electricity production and offset 2.1% of total demand.

Electricity generation in Norway comes from a very high share of renewables. The primary source of electricity is hydropower, which accounted for approximately 96% of the country’s electricity production in 2017 and exceeded demand by 8.9 TWh.

To learn more about wind energy in Norway, please review their chapter in the IEA Wind TCP 2017 Annual Report.

National Targets


Since 2012, Norway has employed a joint electricity certificate market/scheme with Sweden to finance 28.4 TWh/yr of new renewable energy production by 2020. Of this 28.4 TWh, 13.2 TWh is to be financed by Norwegian power consumers.

In practice, this means that Norway has no explicit wind energy target. However, the electricity certificate scheme has resulted in investment decisions for considerable new wind energy installations in Norway to be built by 2020.

Operational Details


Wind power deployment in the first years of the electricity certificate scheme has been modest, with 444 MW of wind power approved by the end of 2017. Norway entered into the electricity certificate scheme with Sweden in 2012, and as of the end of 2017 11 wind power plants had been approved for the scheme, totaling 529 MW.

However, investment decisions for Norwegian wind power plants within the electricity certificate scheme increased dramatically in 2016 and 2017. By the end of 2017, over 1,600 MW of wind power capacity was under construction in Norway, with investment decisions made for nearly 400 MW of additional capacity to be built by 2020.

National R,D&D Priorities & Budget


Energi21 is the Norwegian national strategy for research, development, demonstration, and commercialization of new energy technology. The R&D priorities for land-based wind are: wind resources (prognoses), cost-effective O&M and technology, and environmental and societal issues. The R&D priorities for offshore wind are:

  • Optimal support structures for seabed-based and floating turbines and different seabed conditions
  • Concepts and systems for reliable electric infrastructure (offshore subsea solutions)
  • Cost-effective, time-saving assembly and installation of offshore wind farms
  • Efficient concepts for marine logistics (heavy maintenance) and robust solutions for access
  • Concepts and systems for reducing O&M costs and increasing energy conversion ratios
  • Enhanced knowledge about offshore wind power’s environmental and societal impacts

The 2017 budget for the ENERGIX program was 450 million NOK (46 million EUR; 55 million USD) and the same budget is expected in 2018.