Norway. Hafslund ASA

Date of agreement:24 Nov 2015
Country:Norway
Customer:Hafslund ASA
Amount in NOK:NOK 700 million
Amount in EUR:EUR 76 million
Maturity:15 years
NACE sector / loan type:Production and distribution of electricity

Project

The loan has been provided for financing an investment in smart meters as part of a national programme to centralise Norway’s electricity market data to improve efficiency and transparency.

Hafslund Nett will replace and install approximately 700,000 new automatic electrical meters as well as the communications infrastructure and collection system to gather meter values for the management and automation of the network.

The rollout is scheduled to be completed by 1. January 2019. This is in accordance with Norwegian Regulation No. 301 of 11 March 1999 governing metering, settlement and coordinated action in connection with electricity trading and invoicing of network services.

The programme will replace the present electrical meters with a national advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) to receive, store and process data from consumers and producers into a national electrical hub.

Hafslund ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and is one of the largest listed energy groups in the Nordic region. Hafslund is Norway’s largest grid company, the largest in electricity sales and a major producer of renewable energy from hydropower and district heating. The Group is the fifth largest in the Nordic region in electricity sales and has produced renewable energy from hydropower for more than 100 years. Hafslund will further develop both operationally and strategically within the group’s four business areas: production, heat, network and market.

Fulfilment of NIB's mandate

Hafslund’s investment in AMS system allows for collecting connection- and client-specific data, which will considerably expand the information the network companies have on their customer’s consumption patterns and network status. These data will be used to improve monitoring of network stability and facilitate faster responses to potential and actual network failures.

AMS system also facilitates the adoption of decentralized power production to the network and the development of more efficient products based on non-linear pricing that will reduce the profiling costs of the retail power companies. As a result, the installation of smart meters and development of a smart grid may lead to a reduction in electricity consumption during peak hours and thereby place additional price pressure on the least efficient production units in NordPool.

Sustainability summary

In the long run, smart grids are expected to have some positive impacts on energy efficiency.

Press release
26.11.2015

NIB co-finances procurement of automatic electricity meters

Press release

NIB delfinansierer anskaffelse av automatiske strømmålere