From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

The Norwegian ruling coalition government just collapsed due to public anger at energy exports to Britain driving up domestic Norwegian prices.

Blackout Britain threat rises on collapse of Norwegian government

Hannah Boland
Sat, February 1, 2025 at 12:07 AM GMT+10

Britain risks being left more vulnerable to blackouts as a political row in Norway over power exports escalates.

The Norwegian government collapsed this week following a row over EU green energy laws. A junior coalition partner in the government quit in protest at plans to implement the policies, amid a broader rise in energy nationalism in the country.

Experts said the collapse raised questions over Britain’s reliance on Norwegian energy imports to keep the lights on. Last weekend, Norway accounted for 4pc of the UK’s power, coming via cables that run under the North Sea.

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Britain is expected to become increasingly reliant on electricity imports under Ed Miliband’s net zero push as Labour seeks to decarbonise the grid by switching to intermittent renewables, with wind power forming a crucial pillar of its plans.

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Electricity exports have become a flashpoint in Norway, where the public has been facing soaring energy prices in recent years. Critics have claimed the undersea interconnector cables force prices higher.

…Read more: 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/blackout-britain-threat-rises-collapse-140740392.html

This Norwegian development is a disaster for the British economy, an economy which is already dancing on the brink of a recession.

At the very least Norway will likely demand a savage price increase which allows the Norwegian government to subsidise domestic prices from profits made by exporting electricity. At worst Britain will permanently lose 4% of its electricity supply.

Britain’s only hope of overcoming the imminent electricity shortfall is to activate demand management plans – shutting down factories and other businesses during peak periods – and to purchase expensive electricity from hospitals and other facilities which have their own diesel generators, who have agreed to act as a backup supply. Either of these options would be expensive for the British economy.

I am not in any way blaming Norway for wanting a better deal. The Norwegian Government’s first duty is to the people of Norway, and if shutting down the interconnector to Britain can help achieve a better outcome for ordinary Norwegians, this is what the government of Norway should do.

But Britain has been caught with its pants down by this latest development, thanks to their insane pursuit of unreliable renewables backed by unreliable imported electricity.

I’m sure the politicians whose energy illiterate policies made Britain vulnerable to external interruptions of supply won’t suffer blackouts, nor will they personally suffer the financial consequences of coming energy price increases. Ordinary British people might not be so lucky.