A request to build a temporary gas-fired power plant in connection with the Kollsnes treatment plant near Bergen is due to be submitted on Monday 13 January by a partnership which includes Statoil.
Providing the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) awards a licence, this facility could begin generating in February for a planned period of four months.
The formal application to the NVE will be made by the state-owned Statnett grid operator, with the Bergenshalvøens Kommunale Kraftselskap (BKK) power utility as the third partner.
These companies want to operate the generating plant in order to reduce the possibility that electricity rationing might be required during the spring.
Norway faces a considerable shortfall in power supplies owing to the combination of high consumption in a cold winter and reduced generating capacity for hydroelectricity following a dry 2002.
A number of commercial and contractual factors must be clarified before the project can be implemented, and work is currently under way on these aspects.
Statnett has been the prime mover and organiser of the scheme, and has worked since before Christmas on establishing a temporary solution to ease the electricity supply position.
It wants to establish a plant comprising seven gas turbines with a combined output of 150 megawatts, corresponding to the power requirements of 50-60,000 Norwegian households during the period.
Locating the facility at Kollsnes will provide access to sufficient supplies of gas from Statoil’s Troll A platform and an adequate link to the electricity grid.
The power generated would benefit the whole of southern Norway, with a Kollsnes plant being particularly important for securing supplies to the Bergen region.
This reflects the limited capacity in existing transmission links between the area and other parts of Norway.
Installing the temporary plant would not significantly alter the overall power supply position, but could nevertheless make an important contribution to reducing the danger of rationing.