The outcome of what the spot price was in March is now clear. If you still had a monthly electricity subsidy, no one would have been paid electricity subsidy this month.
Although none of the price areas had a very high electricity price in March, the northernmost price area sets a record.
Never before has the monthly price for March been as high in NO4 (Tromsø) as it was this month.
| Price ranges | March price 2023 | March price 2024 | Change (%) |
| Oslo (NO1) | 113 | 68 | -40 |
| Kristiansand (NO2) | 113 | 68 | -40 |
| Trondheim (NO3) | 64 | 61 | -5 |
| Tromsø (NO4) | 49 | 55 | +12 |
| Bergen (NO5) | 113 | 69 | -39 |
Figures in øre/kWh.
With today’s price ranges, you will not find a March price in NO4 that is higher than 55 øre/kWh on Nord Pool’s pages.
The previous record for March in NO4 is from 2011. Then the monthly price was 51 øre/kWh.
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The price decreases in the south, but increases in the north
It is price area NO5 (Bergen) that has had the most expensive electricity in the past month. Despite this, the people of Bergen have not had a lower March price since 2021.
The same trend applies to the whole of southern Norway. In 2022, the March price in the south made a big jump. Since then, the price has dropped.
From last year to this year, the price in NO1 (Oslo) and NO2 (Kristiansand) has dropped from 113 øre/kWh to 68 øre/kWh.
In the far north, in NO4, the opposite trend has been seen. In 2022, the March price in the north was just 15 øre/kWh. The following year, the price had increased to 49 øre/kWh. This year, the price has thus made another jump – to 55 øre/kWh.
At the beginning of March, Europower wrote that electricity prices were almost the same across the country. Then it was NO4 that essentially priced itself differently than usual.
One of the reasons why northern Norwegian producers did this was – according to chief analyst at Volue Insight – that northern Norway does not have the capacity to export all the time. Therefore, they will have to set the price as high as the neighboring areas.
The occupancy rate in the north has so far in 2024 been at a fairly low level. In week 12, it was almost 14 per cent below normal.
In addition to this, there is less snow in the mountains in the north than is normal.
The low filling rate has previously not worried the power producers in the north. Even with a low filling rate, the region is characterized by a power surplus.
