In 2024, Norway's net domestic energy consumption was 215 TWh. A large share of this is electricity. Norway has a significant energy-intensive industry that consumes a substantial amount of electricity, and electricity use for heating buildings and domestic hot water is high. In the transport sector, energy use is mainly based on fossil fuels. However, electricity use in the sector is increasing, and strong growth is expected in the coming years due to the electrification of vehicles and maritime transport. Read more about the factors that influence energy use here.
In the mainland economy electricity is the dominant energy carrier, followed by fossil fuels. This is especially true in the industrial sector (excluding the oil and gas sector), households, and service industries.
Energy use in the industrial sector, excluding the oil and gas sector, was 72 TWh in 2024. Norway has a significant share of energy-intensive industry, largely due to historically good access to electricity at competitive prices. The industrial sector is characterized by many large individual players with high energy consumption. The main industrial segments in Norway are the chemical industry, the metal industry, and the pulp and paper industry. Energy in the industrial sector is used to meet cooling and heating needs, industrial processes, and the operation of electrical equipment.
The high share of electricity use in industry is largely due to aluminium production. This process is highly energy-intensive and relies almost entirely on electricity as its energy source. The production of other metals, chemical raw materials, and cement involves a higher share of fossil fuels. The pulp and paper industry uses a significant amount of biomass in addition to electricity.
Energy use in households is often referred to as energy use in residential buildings. In 2024, consumption was 46 TWh. Electricity dominates energy use in households, followed by biofuels and district heating. Since the ban on oil heating was introduced in 2020, fossil energy sources like oil and parrafin are no longer used for residential heating. More than 75 percent of household energy is used for heating of space and tap water.
In Norway, electricity covers much of the heating of buildings. In other European countries, energy sources such as bioenergy, district heating, and fossil fuels are more common. The high share of electricity used for heating means that the annual electricity consumption in Norway fluctuates with the weather and outdoor temperature. Electricity use is typically high in the winter and lower in the summer. The correlation between outdoor temperature and electricity use is stronger in Norway than in other European countries.
While energy use in buildings is largely influenced by the outdoor temperature, energy consumption in the industrial sector is relatively even throughout the year. In areas with many homes and little industry, the overall use of electricity varies more than in industrial areas. In the Oslo area, which has less industry than other parts of the country, the electricity consumption is therefore particularly high in winter and low in summer.
Despite a population increase in Norway of 20 percent from 2000 to 2021, the use of energy in households has increased relatively little. A moderate growth from 2020 to 2021 can be explained by improved energy effenciency in buildings, electrical appliances and other technical solutions. Additionally, many households have installed heat pumps, mainly air-to-air pumps. According to The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, in 2021 18.8 TWh of heat was produced from heat pumps consuming 8.1 TWh of electricity.
Energy use in the service sector was 36 TWh in 2024, of which about 25 TWh came from electricity. The service sector includes a wide variety of non-residential buildings, such as nursing homes, hospitals, schools, cultural buildings, hotels, office buildings, and retail buildings—the last two being the largest categories. The service sector also includes the armed forces.
In this sector, about half of the energy use goes to lighting, fans, pumps, and other electrical equipment. Approximately 40 percent is used for space heating, while a small share is used for heating tap water. The use of fossil fuels in the service sector occurs primarily within military sector.
Read more about energy use in buildings here.
Energy consumption in the transport sector was 53 TWh in 2024. This includes all domestic transport activities. Road transport accounts for the majority of the sector’s energy use—about 70 percent. Domestic maritime transport accounts for 22 percent, domestic aviation eight percent, and rail transport two percent. Fossil fuels still make up the largest share of energy use in the transport sector. However, electricity use is increasing, and strong growth is expected in the coming years due to the electrification of vehicles and ferries.
In 1990, the total energy use in the transport sector was around 40 TWh. Between 1990 and 2022, energy use in road transport increased by just over 40 percent. The maritime sector has seen a slight increase over the same period. Air traffic has had a relatively stable consumption level since the early 2000s, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 when activity was lower due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In recent years, there has been a shift from fossil fuels to electricity in road transport. Favorable policies for electric vehicles, increasingly available charging infrastructure, and a wider range of EV models have driven this development. Since electric motors use energy nearly three times more efficiently than internal combustion engines, this shift to electricity is reducing overall energy consumption in road transport. An overview of the current share of new zero-emission vehicles in different segments can be found on the Norwegian Public Roads Administration’s website.
Electrification is also underway in coastal transport and fisheries. More new ferries are being ordered with electric propulsion; there are examples of electric express boats, and hybrid solutions are being installed in older vessels. Charging infrastructure is also being developed in ports, including shore power for larger ships. For larger, long-distance vessels, the transition to zero emissions is progressing slowly, but hydrogen and ammonia are emerging as important energy carriers for phasing out fossil fuels in the future.