Conference article

Nearly 100 percent of electricity used in Norway stems from hydropower; but no further large-scale production is politically viable. There is however increased interest in hydropower as both a supplement to the national energy supply and as provider of balance within the European energy system. Interest focuses on: (1) increased pumping and storage; (2) upgrading of existing hydropower installations; and (3) small-scale hydro production. Such measures are also considered as climate-change mitigation. As a fourth developmental path there are also alternative processes aiming at reinforcing environmental concerns in existing hydropower; not least by revising granted licenses. These processes coincide with a reinforced focus on biodiversity. This dual environmental challenge is also enhanced by Norway’s follow-up of the EU Directive on renewable energy (RES) and the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). In this context; we here assess current political and regulatory practice in Norway; focusing on the status of environmental concerns; and the challenges Norwegian hydropower policy faces by the implementation of the EU Directives. The policy challenge is manifest as ‘tradeoffs’ among hydropower priorities at both the strategic and project-specific levels; and is further enhanced by lack of clarity as to the ultimate impact of the relevant EU Directives.

EU; Renewable Energy Directive; Water Framework Directive; Norwegian hydropower; policy; governance; Environmental Policy Integration (EPI); trade-off