NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Jøran Sandvik, Aksel Tannum and Ida Mattsson Sperre, Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS
The Energy Act According to the Energy Act, all grid compa- nies must undergo legal unbundling, meaning they cannot engage in activities other than grid development and operation. Grid companies with more than 100,000 customers must also undergo functional unbundling, operating inde- pendently from other companies within a verti- cally integrated company group. Transmission grid facilities can only be owned by the TSO (Statnett SF) and cannot be sold to others. Furthermore, owning and operating an energy facility requires a licence under the Energy Act. In cases of amalgamations and mergers, the parties involved must ensure the transfer of the licence by applying to the NVE. 1.5 Central Planning Authorities The energy authorities are responsible for pro- cessing licence applications and issuing licenc- es for grid and production facilities. Most of the licences are issued by the NVE, which is also the supervisory authority. The NVE has been designated as the emergency management authority by the Ministry of Energy (see the Energy Act, Chapter 9 and the Regula- tion on Security and Emergency Preparedness in the Power Supply System). The Directorate co-ordinates emergency response work and appoints the overall management of the Power Supply Preparedness Organisation ( Kraftforsy- ningens beredskapsorganisasjon KBO). The NVE ensures that provisions in, or in accordance with, the Regulation on security and emergency pre- paredness in the power supply system ( kraft- beredskapsforskriften ) are followed.
Currently, this requirement applies to only a lim- ited number of entities within the energy sector. No Special Protections or Incentives The regulatory framework governing licensing is applied equitably to investors, irrespective of whether they are domestic or foreign. There are no special protections that apply to foreign investors, or special incentives or protec- tion to encourage foreign investment in the Nor- wegian power industry. Foreign investors may obtain the same property rights and will have access to domestic courts. 1.4 Sale of Power Industry Assets The principal laws governing the sale of power industry assets and transactions are the Water- fall Rights Act and the Energy Act. The Waterfall Rights Act The Waterfall Rights Act regulates waterfalls that have the potential to yield 4,000 natural horse- power or more. A licence for such waterfalls can only be issued to public entities, such as state- owned enterprises, municipalities and county authorities, or to companies where these entities hold at least two-thirds of the capital and voting rights. Private entities can own up to one-third of the capital and one-third of the voting rights in such companies. These requirements apply to sales of assets or businesses in companies holding waterfall rights pursuant to the Water- fall Rights Act, as well as in amalgamations and mergers. Additionally, the transfer of regulation facilities or shares in regulation facilities can only occur simultaneously with the transfer of waterfall rights, as described in the Watercourse Regula- tion Act.
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