A revitalisation of the Energy Nation Norway?

The notion of ‘the energy nation Norway’ has for long been tightly associated with abundant energy resources utilised to build and benefit Norwegian society as a whole, however, it is also a way to distinguish itself from other countries. While the ‘industrial adventures’ of hydropower, oil, and gas have been central in constituting the identity as an energy nation, the increased pressure for global and multi-sectoral energy transitions are introducing new forms of renewable technologies. With ambitions of establishing a new industrial adventure, the first tenders for offshore wind power in Norway are now in process. Similarly, with aspirations of creating a show case of green transitions in the Arctic, Longyearbyen in Svalbard are divesting away from coal. Against the backdrop of an energy crisis, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the aftermath of a global pandemic how are the futures role(s) of these new-to-Norway technologies framed?

How will they influence the places in which they are to be located? How are these new technologies used to revitalise ‘the energy nation Norway’ and how the country relates to the rest of the world? To understand this, I examine two cases: the opening of the first areas for offshore wind power in the Norwegian North Sea and the impending energy transition in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. Located on the edges of the Norwegian territory, more than 2,400 kilometres apart, the two cases reveal interesting insights into the socio-spatial dimensions of energy futures in places where competing, diverse, and multiscalar interests are foregrounded.

Birgitte Nygaard is a PhD-candidate at the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture at NTNU, Norway. Her PhD-project is part of the Norwegian research centre FME NorthWind. She has a background in sociology and political ecology and her research interests include sustainability transitions, green consumption, inequality, and power relations.

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