In 2022, the net domestic consumption of energy in Norway was 219 TWh. Electricity covers a large proportion of the consumption. Norway has a significant energy-intensive industry that uses a lot of electricity. Electricity is also common for heating buildings and tap water buildings.
In the transport sector energy use is mainly based on fossil fuels. However, the use of electricity is increasing, and significant growth is expected in the coming years due to the electrification of vehicles and ferries. Read more about 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.
In 2022 the energy use in the industry was 75 TWh, excluding the oil and gas sector. Norway has much power-intensive industry, largely due to a long history of having access to power at competitive prices. The industrial sector is characterized by many large actors with high energy use. The dominant industries are chemicals, metal, and wood processing.
Energy use in the sector covers cooling and heating, industrial processes, and operation of electrical equipment. The high proportion of electricity use is largely due to aluminium production. This process is energy-intensive and uses almost exclusively electricity as energy source. Production of other metals, chemical raw materials, and cement involves a greater share of fossil fuels. The wood processing industry uses some biomass in addition to electricity.
In 2022 the consumption in households was 45 TWh. Electricity is the dominant source of energy, followed by biofuels and district heating. Due to a ban on oil heating introduced in 2020, fossil energy sources such as oil and paraffin are no longer used for heating in households. More than 75 percent of the energy consumtion in households is used for heating rooms 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.
In 2022, the service sector, including the military sector, consumed 34 TWh of energy. Around 22 TWh came from electricity. In service industries, energy use covers activities such as nursing homes, hospitals, schools, cultural centres and hotels. The two dominant types in terms of energy use are office and retail buildings.
About half of the energy used in service industries goes to lighting, fans, pumps, and other electrical devices. Room heating constitutes 40 percent, while a small portion is used for heating tap water. The use of fossil fuels in service industries is mainly in the military sector.
Read more about energy use in buildings here.
In 2022, the transport sector consumed 56 TWh of energy. This includes all domestic transport. Road transport accounts for 70 percent of the energy use. Coastal transport accounts for 20 percent, aviation 7 percent, and rail transport 3 percent. Fossil fuels are the dominant energy source in the sector. The use of electricity is increasing. In the coming years, significant growth in electricity consumption is expected due to the electrification of vehicles and ferries.
In 1990, the total energy use in the transport sector was about 40 TWh. Between 1990 and 2022, energy use in road transport increased by just over 40 percent. In the maritime sector, there has been a slight increase over the same period. Aviation has had a steady consumption since the turn of the millennium, except for 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In recent years road transport has been marked by a transition from fossil fuels to electricity. Economic incentives for electric vehicles, improved charging infrastructure, and more electric car models available are all strong drivers for this development. Since electric motors utilize energy nearly three times more efficiently than combustion engines, the transition to electricity leads to a decrease in the total energy use in road transport.
Electrification is also ongoing in coastal transport and the fishing sector. Several new ferries with electric propulsion are being ordered, while hybrid solutions are installed in older ships. Charging infrastructure is also being established in ports, including onshore power for larger ships. For long-distance ships the development towards zero emissions is slow. Yet, hydrogen and ammonia are identified as important future energy carriers for phasing out fossil fuels in this segment.