Norway. Eviny AS

The loan has been provided for financing Eviny’s investment programme to increase sub-station and grid capacity in Western Norway during 2023-2026.

The projects are carried out in the areas of Kollsnes, and Mongstad and Fensfjordsbassenget between Bergen and Hardanger, as well as multiple smaller projects in the Vestland region. The projects include multiple upgrades of substations, 132kV as well as 22 kV, upgrade of power lines from 45 kV to 132 kV, sea cables and the establishment of new power lines.

The aim is to improve the quality of the infrastructure and enable electrification to make hydrogen production possible at Kollsnes Natural gas park and at Mongstad, while also allowing for other transport infrastructure projects to be carried out with electrical equipment.

In 2016, NIB provided a NOK 1.55 billion loan to finance smart meters and local and regional electricity networks.

Eviny AS a Norwegian utility company based in Bergen in Western Norway. The company produces electricity from 39 hydropower plants and two wind farms, district heating, fibre broad band, and other energy related services. Eviny employs about 1,300 and is owned by 17 municipalities in Western Norway, Statkraft, and two local power and electricity cooperatives.

Productivity
Given the green transition and increasing electricity demand, the current capacity constrains is limiting connection of large new customers and connection of new production. The investments between 2023 and 2026 are increasing substation capacity as well as upgrading parts of the grid from 45 kV to 132 kV. Increased transformer capacity of around 1200-1300 MW will enable new large consumption to be connected after more comprehensive reinforcements in the central network is completed.

Environment
The main objective of the investment programme is to enhance infrastructure quality, facilitate electrification, enable hydrogen production at Kollsnes Natural Gas Park and Mongstad, and support the implementation of other transportation infrastructure projects utilising electrical equipment.

Furthermore, a key climate change adaptation risk related to networks is the vulnerability of overhead power lines compared to underground cables. In this project, 95 km of the electricity lines will be carried out as overhead power lines and the remaining part as underground cables or submarine cables. Thus, the investments are expected to contribute to a more climate resilient distribution system.

Expected impact:

• Increased capacity to the grid, 1,200-1,300 MW

No significant concerns have been identified.