Central authorities responsible for Norwegian energy and water resource management
The Storting (Norwegian parliament) determines the political framework for energy and water resources management in Norway. The Government has the executive authority, and implements policy through various ministries.
- The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has the overall administrative responsibility for Norway’s energy and water resources.
- The Ministry of Climate and Environment is responsible for environmental legislation.
- The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation is responsible for the planning legislation.
- The Ministry of Finance is responsible for power plant taxation, various taxes on energy, and government expenditure.
- The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has ownership responsibility for Statkraft SF, the state-owned electricity producer.
Ministry of Petroleum and Energy
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has the overall administrative responsibility for Norway’s energy and water resources. The Ministry’s must ensure that they are managed in line with the guidelines issued by the Storting and the Government.
The Ministry’s Energy and Water Resources Department has ownership responsibility for the state-owned enterprises Enova SF and Statnett SF.
Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate
The Directorate, which reports to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, is responsible for managing domestic energy resources, and is also the national regulatory authority for the electricity sector. In addition, it is responsible for managing Norway’s water resources and for central government tasks to do with flood and avalanche/landslide risk reduction. The Directorate is involved in research and development and international development cooperation, and is the national hydrology expert body.
Enova is a state-owned enterprise that manages the assets in the Energy Fund. Enova’s objective is to promote a shift to more environmentally friendly consumption and production and the development of energy and climate technology. Further information on Enova’s activities is available here.
Statnett is the state-owned enterprise responsible for building and operating the central grid. It is the transmission system operator (TSO) for the central grid and owns more than 90 % of it. Statnett is responsible for both short- and long-term system coordination, which entails responsibility for ensuring the instantaneous power balance and facilitating satisfactory quality of supply throughout the country.
The Research Council of Norway reports to the Ministry of Education and Research, and its responsibilities include managing the funding for energy research allocated by the ministries. Most of the government funding the Research Council receives for energy research comes from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.