Teslas in Norway [image credit: Norsk Elbilforening (Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association)]

Norway is one of the world’s largest exporters of oil, also of natural gas. Loss of revenue from fuel taxes seems not to be a problem for them, but high demand by car users for electricity at certain times of the day could be. Are other countries ready for such issues?

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s power grid is likely to need an 11 billion crown ($1.27 billion) upgrade over the next 20 years to meet demand from the country’s growing fleet of electric cars, with consumers likely to have to foot the bill, a study has shown.

Electric car (EV) sales in Norway reached a record-high in March, with almost 60% of new cars sold fully electric, a result of state policy to exclude such vehicles from certain taxes and offer free or cheaper road tolls, parking and charging points.

Aiming to end fossil-fueled car sales by 2025, electric vehicles now account for 220,000 of Norway’s total fleet of 2.7 million cars. It aims to have a mostly carbon-neutral fleet on its roads by 2040.

In a study conducted for Norway’s power regulator with DNV GL, state-appointed consultancy Poyry said a power grid investment of up to 11 billion crowns would be needed by 2040 if most passenger cars were by then powered by electricity and drivers maintained their current charging habits.

“If nothing is done, charging every afternoon to evening seems most likely. In that case, the 11 billion … grid cost is paid by all customers,” Poyry’s Norway director Kjetil Ingeberg told Reuters.

He said that all electricity consumers would face rising costs as a separate EV charging tariff was unlikely.

Full report here.

via Tallbloke’s Talkshop

http://bit.ly/2QUQ6zG

June 9, 2019 at 04:03AM