No more backwards – Watt?

As Bloomberg opinion columnist Javier Blas reported in Why Norway’s political crisis is an energy problem in Europe (February 3, 2025)

After decades of quiet payments for Europe’s grand energy experiments, it seems Norway has finally decided to step out of the stage—or at least, when out, slammed the door on several cross-border power cables.

The political crisis in Oslo is more than just a gesture of family quarrel or ideological. It's about energy – more specifically, there is an increasing awareness that Norway has become a reluctant battery pack for the failed energy transition in Germany with its hydraulically abundant grid. Or what the Germans say Energy transition.

Like all the large social experiments carried out with other people’s money, Norwegians lost patience.

Dunkelflaute Domino effect

Blas won't stab the word. To understand what is happening in Norway, you must master two German words: Energy transition and Dark.

• Energy transition: Germany's self-conceited energy transition, which enthusiastically shut down nuclear power plants and has provided abundant subsidies on intermittent wind and solar energy.
• Dark: Literally “dark rest” – those long winters are not only cold and cloudy, but also still. No wind. There is no sun. No strength.

Germany has become a dangerous energy-dependent neighbor due to the capacity of base loads being contaminated and adjustable plants (i.e., fossil fuels). When the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow, Berlin penetrates the north (i.e. Norway) and expects the light to remain bright.

For years, they have it. at the cost of Norway.

Higher price, lower patience

Commonly known as the miracle of modern engineering (each costing over $1 billion), cross-border power interconnects should produce a seamless European grid. In theory, they will equalize prices and share resources.

In fact, they have exported German energy across the continent to fail.

According to Blas, “the average wholesale electricity price in southern Norway is more than 50% higher than the 2010-2020 period”, which is a direct result of the increase in increased exports of electricity to struggling grids abroad.

Norwegians were told that it was “effective.” In fact, they are subsidizing bad policies – especially Berlin has decided to account for its own nuclear fleet and double the infrastructure that it relies on weather-dependent.

The government fell and sent a message

When the euro doubts that the central party supports support for the new EU energy rules, the so-called fourth clean energy package, it does more than just trigger a reshuffle of small governments. It conveys the clearest message that Norway will no longer be a backup generator for Europe.

Now, Labour is left to rule alone – the first minority government in 25 years. This issue may be imminent to participate in the next election on September 8.

It's not just Norway's tantrum. It follows similar tensions elsewhere:

• Sweden recently rejected Germany's request for another interconnection.
• Norway previously rejected Britain's proposal to Scottish cable.
• France, Austria and even Greece are beginning to complain about similar dynamics.

The fantasy of unification, efficient, pan-European energy market is shattering. And it is not difficult to see the reason.

Cross-border hypocrisy and green phantom

Ironically, the country that relies on Norway to save them is the one that is most keen on pursuing positive “green” goals. These ambitions are based on the ridiculous assumption that renewable energy can replace the power of base loads, supported by sporadic import and storage unicorn dreams.

Germany, this is the ring master of this energy circus, shut down the nuclear power plant too early, but found himself trapped by coal…. “Berlin needs to ensure it has sufficient domestic capacity to keep the lights…this means keeping its coal-fired plants open longer than currently planned,” Brass wrote.

It's the real scandal: the so-called climate leaders fail with their own standards and drag others onto them.

Economics of “Efficiency” – for whom?

Blas makes a crucial difference between economic efficiency and political responsibility:

“Efficiency means differently in economics than in politics. In the former, it means 'the average price is lower for everyone'; in the latter, it means 'the price is lower only for my own voters.''''

Translation: German voters enjoy cheaper power because Norwegian voters pay more. Now, the latter asks: “Why do we do this?”

Norway should continue to subsidize other people’s ideology (especially the ideology that refuses Norway to have resilient energy technologies) that is a person who does not start.

Warning footage heard in Europe

The potential scrapping of two and a half centuries of cable to Denmark is more than just infrastructure. This is a warning. When Nordic Group, driven by cooperation and consensus in history, also began to retreat from the EU's energy integration, it was clear that the entire House of Cards was swaying.

lesson? If policy requires other people to suffer financially to succeed, it is not a good policy.

Mr. Niceman no longer

The quiet rebellion in Norway is more than just political or local pricing. This is a systematic prosecution of renewable priority, common grid fantasy driving the European energy agenda. A country whose exports outweigh consumption should not allow citizens to pay some of the highest prices on the mainland. Of course, it should not be forced to comply with the policy package, it has no real role in shaping.

Blas is correct to call Norway’s uprising a “wake up phone.” Whether Europe is snooze or ultimately facing the consequences of its magical thinking, it will shape the energy landscape of the mainland in the coming decades.

One thing is clear: Norway will no longer be the doormat for Europe.

source: Javier Blas, Why Norway's political crisis is a European energy problemBloomberg's opinion, February 3, 2025.

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