The Norwegian government has announced measures to speed up the development of new power generation and electricity grid infrastructure, including changes to the process for onshore wind projects. The measures are intended to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, shorten processing times and accelerate construction while maintaining requirements related to nature, the environment and indigenous rights.
The government aims to halve the time required to develop the national and regional electricity grid compared with the situation before 2021. The measures include introducing a deadline for processing concession applications, simplifying requirements for impact assessments and prioritising the most important projects. The government says planning and construction of the largest transmission projects can currently take up to 14 years.
Onshore wind is identified by the government as the technology that can provide large amounts of new electricity most quickly and at the lowest cost. To accelerate development, the government plans to remove the requirement for municipal planning procedures for wind projects while explicitly retaining municipalities’ right to approve or reject projects. The change is intended to remove duplicate processing rather than reduce local decision-making powers.
The government also proposes that municipalities receive revenues from wind power from the start of construction, rather than having to wait until later in the project’s development. This is intended to ensure that local communities benefit from wind power development at an earlier stage.
The measures form part of a broader package aimed at increasing Norway’s electricity production and grid capacity. The government says faster processes are needed to meet growing demand from industry and businesses while continuing to consider environmental and indigenous rights.
