The Authority today approved the state aid granted to Troms Kraft Produksjon AS (Troms Kraft) for wind power production in the Fakken wind park. Troms Kraft will receive NOK 346.4 million (approx. EUR 42 million). The aid is granted under the Norwegian Energy Fund Scheme.[1]

Due to the high amount of aid, the measure was notified to the Authority in June 2010 and has been subject to a detailed assessment under the State aid Guidelines for environmental protection. The Guidelines allow for state support to environmental objectives where, on balance, the environmental benefits of such support outweigh the potential distortions of competition. In particular, support to renewable energy production may be granted to compensate for high investment costs.

With regard to the aid to Troms Kraft, the Authority has found that the positive effect of increasing renewable energy production outweighs the limited effect of the aid on competition. The aid is proportional as it is limited to the aid necessary to trigger investments in the wind park. The aid also provides an incentive effect since the project would not be commercially viable without the aid. Finally, the market power of Troms Kraft is less than 1% and hence the structure of the market for electricity production is unlikely to be altered by the grant of aid.

For further information, please contact:

Mr. Trygve Mellvang-Berg
Press and Information Officer
Tel. (+32)(0)2 286 18 66

Mr. Per Andreas Bjørgan
Director, Competition and state aid directorate
Tel. (+32)(0)2 286 18 36

[1] Scheme approved in 2006 (Decision No 125/06/COL) and prolonged in 2010 (Decision No 486/10/COL).