(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Norwegian politicians have only the time and the way to plan a new energy supply in Svalbard. Coal prices have plunged from 220 dollars per tonne in 2008 to below 50 dollars today, and the cornerstone company Store Norske is on the verge of bankruptcy. The government has announced that it may be ending already this year.
Unfortunately, the island community's energy supply is also locked to mining: The energy system is almost 100 per cent coal-based. Importing coal will be expensive, short-term and politically difficult. Svalbard is a symbolic arena in Norway's international climate work. It is here that Norwegian governments invite international top politicians to discuss climate change. That the renewable country Norway operates Svalbard on imported coal will be a difficult message.
Svalbard after Store Norske. Fortifying Norwegian sovereignty in Svalbard is about ensuring a stable presence and a viable society. Can one imagine a Svalbard without Big Norwegian?
The research activity at Svalbard is important. Tourism is a growth industry. The government is looking into fishing and fish farming opportunities around Svalbard. Longyearbyen's satellite operations are already generating more than tourism. Svalbard has its own scheduled airport, and is the only place on the globe with free view to all polar orbit satellites. This should also include the Ministry of Trade and Industry as they now work on a new space strategy for Norway.
So there are exciting alternatives – but common to all of them is the need for a stable energy supply. Access to power is already a limitation for the Svalbard community.
We have already launched the idea of Svalbard as an Arctic renewable exhibition window.
Mains power cable? At the Paris Climate Summit, Bellona released a report on resource utilization and green value creation in the Arctic. Here we launched both local production of renewable power and power cables to the northern Norwegian mainland as possible alternatives for Svalbard.
Therefore, it was gratifying that Øyvind Korsberg (FrP) in the Svalbard post in March opened for a study of mainland power to Svalbard through a cable from Northern Norway. He also received support from both the SV and the KrF.
A submarine cable from the mainland will require a large investment, but have very low operating costs. Northern Norway has a surplus of clean power, and the price of electricity is very low. A submarine cable will ensure renewable power and multiplied capacity on Svalbard. A cable that follows the shelf, with a land stop on Bjørnøya, will go down to 600 meters below sea level. In comparison, the Icelandic power company Landsvirkjun plans to lay a cable between Iceland and the United Kingdom, with a sea depth of 1600 meters.
Can one envisage supplying Svalbard only through local renewable production? Nothing would please Bellona more. We have already launched the idea of Svalbard as an Arctic renewable showcase. Developments and falling prices in technologies such as solar power, wind power, and tidal and wave power, especially in combination with local storage such as batteries, provide hope. In the Canadian Arctic, small, remote settlements and research stations are already being transformed from expensive diesel generators to solar or wind power with storage. Norway should study similar solutions for small communities such as Hopen, Bjørnøya and Jan Mayen.
Sun success in Longyearbyen. Also in Svalbard we see experiments with local renewable energy production – and it works. In 2013, the Narvik company Solbes installed solar panels on a block of flats in Longyearbyen. Result: Production was 115 percent higher than expected. Solar panels thrive in cool, snowy areas. During the summer months, solar panels on Svalbard will produce electricity 24 hours a day.
At the same time, the need for power in Svalbard is increasing, and local renewable sources will require a great need for storage. This will probably lead to a hybrid system with reserve power from, for example, coal imports for a period. A cable to the mainland, on the other hand, will ensure a stable and clean base load for the Svalbard community, and will not stand in the way of local renewable production. It will also allow for local emission reductions through electrification of transport on land and in ports.
A report to the Storting on Svalbard will be issued shortly. It must take future value creation seriously, and energy security is the joker in this. It would be a big mistake not to study electrification via cable from northern Norway as an alternative.
Runa Haug Khoury is a senior consultant in energy and industry in Bellona
