Central Norway power producers face scrutiny over hydro reservoir levels

The Norwegian power system regulator NVE announced on Thursday that producers of hydropower in central Norway will have to provide detailed reports about their production forecasts due to low reservoir levels.

NVE stated in a?statement that it was extra important to manage the hydroelectric resources correctly if we entered winter with less than normal water.

Central Norway has a typical power 'deficit', which is why it relies on imports. With low reservoir filling in the area, the need to bring electricity in from other parts of Norway will increase, according to the regulator.

It added that there was no longer any concern over the supply of food.

The NVE data published weekly revealed that the filling level in the area, also known as NO3 in the power market, was 63.7%, which is almost 20 percentage points lower than the median of the last 20 years and only two percentage 'points higher than the minimum.

NVE said that reservoir levels in southern Norway are also lower than usual and the regulator could extend the reporting duty to other producers in the power system.

Norway is divided up into five pricing zones. The central market area of Norway is called NO3, and the southern markets are NO1,NO2 and NO5. (Reporting and editing by Nora Buli; Terje Solsvik)

(source: Reuters)