THORIUM AS AN ENERGY SOURCE - Opportunities for Norway ...

Thorium as an Energy Source - Opportunities for Norway
Concerning nuclear energy, the Commission stated that it is one of the largest sources of CO2 free
energy in Europe but it is up to the member states to decide future developments. In 2004 the 152
reactors in the EU produced on average 6.7 TWhe (Tera Watt Hours Electricity) per reactor
corresponding to 15 % of the EU energy consumption or 31 % of the electricity consumption. To
replace aging reactors, 50 new reactors need to be built before 2030. Safer operation and
improved waste management will successively be implemented, an example being the new
Finnish reactor. Although existing nuclear power plants are very competitive, high capital costs
of any new nuclear investment greatly increase the business risk of nuclear energy for companies
operating on purely market based conditions.
The 2004 EU consumption of renewable electricity is: hydro 304 TWh, wind 59 TWh, biomass 69
TWh and of nuclear electricity 986 TWh.
In the EU the role of the stock market in electricity trading can be predicted to increase.
Currently, in the Nord Pool area more than 70 % of consumed electricity is traded via stock (Nord
Pool became in 1996 the first international commodity exchange for trading electric power). This
applies also to emission allowance trading, where the volume traded through stock is
continuously increasing.
2.4 The Situation in Norway
The oil and gas industry is Norway's largest and most important industry. Since the start-up of
activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) in the early 1970s, the industry has been
characterised by growth and increased production. The situation today is different; oil production
decreases every year and only a few discoveries are ready for development. At the same time,
there are large expected resources on the NCS which remain to be proven. In spite of more than
30 years of production, only around one third of the total expected resources on the NCS have
been extracted.
Norwegian oil production has remained at a plateau level of about 3 million barrels per day (bpd)
since 1995, which is about 3.5 % of the world production, of which about 2.5 million bpd are
exported. This makes Norway the world's tenth-largest oil producer and fifth-largest oil exporter.
In a few years, oil production is expected to gradually decrease. From representing approximately
35 % of the total Norwegian petroleum production in 2006, gas production will probably increase
its share to more than 50 % in 2013. The production of petroleum in Norway, which includes oil,
gas, NGL (Natural Gas Liquids, a collective term for grades of liquid petroleum) and condensate
(a type of light oil that contains a proportion of wet gas) from 1971 to 2006, is shown in Figure
2.4. In the longer term, the number and sizes of new discoveries will be a critical factor for the
production level.
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