In April 2019 the Norwegian liscensing process for wind farm development was put on a temporary hold. The government have now asked NVE to re-initiate the processing of licence applications- marking the end of a three year break. The break was likely necessary to take time in order to learn from the wind farm construction processes that have taken place the last couple of years. At the same time, precious time is lost when it comes to transitioning Norway in a sustainable direction, and now we are in a hurry to get going! says CEO of Norsk Vind AS, Per Ove Skorpen.
This spring NVE has published an updated knowledge database for wind power, as well as new requirements for licence applications for wind farms. This creates the basis for Stortingets handling of the Energy white paper defining the terms for the new licensing process for onshore wind power.
The most central changes are restrictions related to the duration of a license from approval to operation and limitations related to height and number of turbines in a project. These changes will make the licencing system more predictable for the municipalities, according to Skorpen.
Following an approval, the developer will not be allowed t increase turbine height or install more turbines than is specified in the approved licence. Skorpen concludes that this will limit the flexibility in developing the wind power site, but will at the same time ensure more predictable projects that are easier to comprehend for the municipalities.
- We are completely dependent on trust from the municipalities. The new licensing process is an important step in the right direction, emphasizes Skorpen. We are also pleased that the policy makers are increasingly facilitating predictability when it comes to the economical compensation for the municipalities. As with hydro power, it is equally important to ensure sound mechanisms to compensate the municipalities for putting their natural resources to disposition for a common good. A just distribution of the value creation between the municipality, state and developer is essential to ensure a socially acceptable development of renewable energy.
The governement have suggested increased taxes for the industry by implementation of a resource rent tax on wind power, an increased production fee and an extraordinary tax on the energy sold for a price that exceeds 70 øre per kWh.t, and a doubling of the production fee.
