Stockholm 6th September : Sweden and Norway announced that they were preparing to establish an inter-governmental task force to rein in in the rising electricity costs in the Nordic region. The decision was made following the meeting of Swedish and Norwegian ministers in Stockholm, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Together with the Norwegian government the Swedish government establishes a task force to assist the Nordic countries to discuss the evolution of the market model” Swedish Minister for Energy and Digital Development Khashayar Farmanbar stated in an announcement in the press.
He stated that the two countries have joined forces to ensure safe access to electricity and lower cost in the Nordic region.”We are looking for the common solution to our common issues.”
According to the Swedish government, Denmark and Finland will also be invited to join the task force to explore “solutions and models to ensure an efficient electricity market that can lower electricity prices for both businesses and households and, consequently, economic growth.”
The Nordic countries have experienced an exchange of power from the 1960s onwards, as stated by Terje Aasland who is the Norwegian minister of petroleum and energy in the press announcement.
With the backdrop of the crisis in energy in Europe and elsewhere, these countries are seeking to strengthen their collaboration to secure power supplies to industries and the public according to Aasland.
He acknowledged the value of the liquidity guarantees for electricity companies that were recently proposed by Sweden and Finland.While there is currently no need for this intervention in Norway, he said that Norway was watching the progress of the electricity market with keen attention.
The Swedish parliament on Monday ratified the government’s plan to provide 250 billion Swedish crowns’ ($23 billion) credit guarantees to companies that sell electricity in Sweden and other countries to solve the problems that have been arising in the exchange for electricity.
On Sunday on Sunday, the Finnish government also suggested to provide Finnish electricity companies with guaranteed and loans of as much as 10 billion euros ($10 billion) to ensure the sustainability of the cash reserves of their companies.
int/shs
.
