Norway increases support for residential PV

Norwegian renewable energy agency Enova has announced it introduced a series of modifications to the rebate scheme for residential solar installations that are expected to further boost the country's solar market, which last year performed better than ever.

“I am glad that we can now increase the support for the installation of residential PV systems,” said Norwegian Minister of Climate and Environment, Espen Barth Eide, referring to the government's recent decision to grant Enova an additional grant of NOK 750 million (84.8 million), on top of the yearly NOK 3 billion that is usually awarded to the agency. “For the individual consumers, this means lower electricity bills and a greater overview of costs.”

Under the new provisions, Enova will increase the maximum system size eligible for the rebates from 15 to 20 kW and the maximum subsidy amount from 1,250 to 2,000 NOK ($226.7) per kW installed. The maximum subsidy amount will increase from 26,250 to 47,500 NOK ($5,386.0). In addition, new subsidies of up to 10,000 NOK will be introduced for energy management systems that are often installed alongside solar arrays.

“This is great news for homeowners thinking about going solar in Norway. Many are waiting to make a decision, and this will get them going,” Andreas E Thorsheim, the CEO of Norwegian tech company Otovo, told pv magazine. “We expect a rush of demand and a step up to larger systems.”

Thorsheim expects the new measures will take effect on sales immediately and on installations gradually during the second quarter. “The average size of an Otovo system sold in Norway was approximately 10kW in the fourth quarter,” he added.  “The news represents a complete reversal for the Norwegian market, which could grow to five-digit installation numbers.” Otovo has currently a market share of approximately 50% in Norway.

According to recent figures released by Norwegian solar industry body the Solenergiklyngen, the Scandinavian country may have installed around 65MW of new PV capacity in 2021.

If that result is confirmed by official numbers which will be published by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), in February or March, last year may prove to have been the best year ever recorded for the Scandinavian country, in terms of new solar installations.

In 2020, the newly installed PV capacity was around 31.7MW and, in the previous year, new solar arrays totaled 51MW. Norway had added 23.5MW of solar in 2018; 18MW a year earlier, and 11MW in 2016.