Norway and Sweden will see increased power prices this summer due to low hydro, nuclear

The wholesale electricity prices in Sweden and Norway will be higher than usual this summer because of the low filling level of hydropower reservoirs, and due to ongoing nuclear power outages. This was announced by an energy regulator on Wednesday.

Inga Nordberg is the head of energy and concessions at the Norwegian Energy Directorate. She said that the reservoirs in central and southern Norway would fill less than usual during the summer, despite the beginning of snowmelt, which?typically supplies many of these sites.

In a press release, Nordberg stated that the reason was a cold winter with a high level of consumption and a record low snowfall.

Nordberg stated that the gas prices in Europe and the weather in Norway will also influence the Norwegian electricity price in the months ahead.

Data from Nord Pool showed that the average day-ahead electricity price in Norway's southernmost price zones, NO1, NO2 & NO5, has been above EUR100 ($115.99), per megawatt-hour (MWh), this year. This is roughly twice their equivalent for 2025.

NVE will monitor the situation closely, even though it does not think that Norway will face an energy shortage next winter.

Nordberg stated that "the large amounts of rainfall?that can increase reservoir filling usually occur in the fall."

WEAK NUCLEAR

According to a press release by E.ON Sweden's Swedish subsidiary, Anna Rylander, an expert in electricity prices, the price of electricity in Sweden is likely to remain high during June and July due the the biggest hydrological deficit in the Nordic region since 2021.

Rylander said that while there were signs of improvement in the?hydrological condition, the Swedish nuclear outages had the greatest impact on the market.

Vattenfall, the operator of Ringhals 4 (1.134 megawatts), has said that it will run at a half-capacity until June 12 due to an?underground water leak in one generator.

Oskarshamn 3, operated by Uniper (1,400MW), has been offline since 28 March and its restart has been postponed multiple times, with the latest estimate being June 28. ($1 = 0.8621 euros)

(source: Reuters)