NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Jøran Sandvik, Aksel Tannum and Ida Mattsson Sperre, Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS
affects the environment or public interests to a considerable extent, a licence pursuant to the Watercourse Regulation Act is required. The Energy Act (Energiloven) The Energy Act establishes the framework for how electricity supply is organised. The purpose of the Energy Act (see Section 1-2) is to ensure that the production, conversion, transmission, sale, distribution and use of energy is carried out in a societal, rational manner, considering the public and private interests affected. The build- ing, owning and operating of electrical facilities (including generators, transformers and trans- mission lines) requires a licence pursuant to the Energy Act. The Planning and Building Act (Plan- og bygningsloven) Before the NVE can grant licences for onshore wind power plants pursuant to the Energy Act, a local planning decision pursuant to the Planning and Building Act, granted by the municipality, is required. Following amendments to the regulation on the Energy Act in 2025, solar power facilities with a generating capacity of up to 10MWAC are only to be considered by the municipality in which the plant is located, under the Planning and Build- ing Act. See also 1.6 Recent Changes in Law or Regulation . The Expropriation Act and the Expropriation Compensation Act (Oreigningslova and Ekspropriasjonserstatningsloven) All developers need to obtain the necessary rights to conduct their projects, such as land use and waterfall rights. Should such rights not be obtained through agreements, the company may apply for permission to expropriate. Expro- priation is regulated in the Expropriation Act.
The amount of compensation for acquiring such rights is subject to the Expropriation Compensa- tion Act. The Offshore Energy Act (Havenergiloven) TheOffshore Energy Act governs offshore renew- able energy production. Offshore renewable energy production requires that: • an area is opened for offshore wind by the Norwegian government; • a company is exclusively awarded an area for offshore wind development; and • the company is awarded a licence and a detailed plan for offshore wind production according to the Offshore Energy Act. 3.2 Obtaining Approvals to Construct and Operate Generation Facilities The Application Process The licence application process starts with a notification to the NVE. The Planning and Build- ing Act requires that an environmental impact assessment (EIA) be conducted if a project may have significant effects on the environment. The purpose of the EIA is to ensure that all possible effects of the project are taken into account dur- ing the preparation of plans and measures. Wind power plants exceeding 10 MW and hydropower plants with an annual production of 40 GWh or more always require an EIA. In the notification, the developer describes the technical plans and the effects known at the time of the notification. The NVE will submit the notification to affected parties for consultation, including local municipalities. Once the licence application has been prepared, it is submitted to affected parties for consulta- tion. To be granted a licence, the advantages of
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