Climate-friendly trains will run on emission-free energy in 2022. All electricity comes from clean Norwegian hydropower.

Bane NOR is responsible for the infrastructure on the railway. This also entails the supply of power to all train companies running on Norwegian rails.

A new agreement has now been entered into force to ensure that all the energy to be delivered in 2022 is the mark of origin of Norwegian hydropower.

“We are committed to renewable energy, and we set good climate measures high. That is why we have been using electricity from Norwegian hydropower as an energy source since 2007,” says Johnny Glærum, senior energy trader at Bane NOR.

Minimal rail footprint

This is documented by the power producers handing in a guarantee of origin to Statnett when the energy enters the power grid. These guarantees are redeemed in Statnett’s register when the power is extracted and delivered to Bane NOR and as running power to the trains.

Public procurement requires open competition for deliveries. Here, the brokerage firm Cleanworld is engaged to handle the trade, while ECOHZ was chosen as the supplier of guarantees of origin for all electricity to the railway in 2022.

“We are pleased with the trade and how this reduces the already minimal carbon footprint from the operation of the railway,” says Glærum.

Large sums saved in 2021

While electricity prices have reached new heights, Bane NOR has saved the state and the train companies money. If we were to pay for the railway’s electricity consumption in 2021 and follow last year’s electricity prices, it would have cost over NOK 500 million in 2021, as banenor.no wrote about in the autumn.

Nevertheless, Bane NOR and the train companies ended up with a bill of approximately NOK 320 million (EUR 32 million) last year, i.e. about 35 per cent lower. We have been trading power for several years while the cost was lower than in 2021. This has given us predictability and more stable energy expenditure, which the train companies are concerned about.