A Backstop No More – Watts Up With That?

As reported by Bloomberg Opinion columnist Javier Blas in “Why Norway’s Political Crisis Is a European Energy Problem” (Feb. 3, 2025)

After decades of quietly footing the bill for Europe’s grand energy experiments, it appears Norway has finally decided to walk off the stage — or at the very least, slam the door shut on a few cross-border power cables on the way out.

The political crisis rocking Oslo isn’t just about domestic squabbles or ideological posturing. It’s about energy — more specifically, the growing realization that Norway, with its hydro-rich grid, has become the unwilling battery pack for Germany’s failed energy transition. Or as the Germans call it, Energiewende.

And like all grand social experiments conducted with other people’s money, the Norwegians are understandably losing patience.

The Dunkelflaute Domino Effect

Blas doesn’t mince words. To understand what’s happening in Norway, one must grasp two German words: Energiewende and Dunkelflaute.

• Energiewende: Germany’s vaunted energy transition, which enthusiastically shuttered nuclear plants and lavished subsidies on intermittent wind and solar.
• Dunkelflaute: A literal “dark lull” — those long winter stretches when it’s not only cold and cloudy but also eerily still. No wind. No sun. No power.

With baseload capacity gutted and dispatchable plants (i.e., fossil fuels) scorned, Germany has become a dangerously energy-dependent neighbor. When the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, Berlin plugs into the north — namely Norway — and expects the lights to stay on.

And for years, they have. At Norway’s expense.

Higher Prices, Diminishing Patience

Cross-border power interconnectors, often lauded as marvels of modern engineering (and conveniently costing over $1 billion each), were supposed to create a seamless European grid. In theory, they would equalize prices and share resources.

In practice, they’ve exported Germany’s energy failures across the continent.

According to Blas, “average wholesale power prices in 2023-2024 were more than 50% higher in southern Norway than in the 2010-2020 period” — a direct result of increasing electricity exports to prop up struggling grids abroad.

The Norwegians are being told this is “efficient.” In reality, they’re subsidizing bad policy — specifically, Berlin’s decision to nuke its own nuclear fleet and double down on weather-dependent infrastructure.

A Government Falls, and a Message Is Sent

When the euro-skeptic Center Party pulled its support for new EU energy rules (the so-called fourth clean-energy package), it did more than provoke a minor government shakeup. It sent the clearest message yet that Norway isn’t going to be Europe’s backup generator anymore.

Now, the Labour Party is left to govern alone — the first minority government in 25 years. Come the next election on September 8, this issue is likely to loom large.

This isn’t just a Norwegian tantrum. It follows similar tensions elsewhere:

• Sweden recently rejected a German request for another interconnector.
• Norway previously turned down a British proposal for a cable to Scotland.
• France, Austria, and even Greece are starting to grumble about similar dynamics.

The illusion of a unified, efficient, pan-European energy market is cracking. And it’s not hard to see why.

Cross-Border Hypocrisy and the Green Mirage

The deeper irony here is that the very countries relying on Norway to bail them out are the ones most ardently pursuing aggressive “green” targets. These ambitions rest on the laughable assumption that renewables, backed by sporadic imports and dreams of storage unicorns, can replace baseload power.

Germany, the ringmaster of this energy circus, shut down nuclear plants prematurely, only to find itself stuck with coal… again. Blas writes, “Berlin needs to ensure it has enough domestic capacity to keep the lights on… that means keeping its coal-fired plants open far longer than it currently plans.”

This is the real scandal: the so-called climate leaders are failing by their own standards, and dragging others down with them.

The Economics of “Efficiency” — For Whom?

Blas makes a crucial distinction between economic efficiency and political accountability:

“Efficiency has a different meaning in economics than in politics. In the former, it means ‘lower average prices for everyone’; in the latter, it means ‘lower prices only for my own voters.’”

Translation: German voters enjoy cheaper power because Norwegian voters pay more. And now the latter are asking, “Why exactly are we doing this?”

The idea that Norway should continue subsidizing someone else’s ideology — especially one that rejects the energy technologies that made Norway rich and resilient — is a non-starter.

The Warning Shot Heard Across Europe

The potential scrapping of two half-century-old cables to Denmark is no mere infrastructure quibble. It’s a warning. When even the Nordic bloc, historically cooperative and consensus-driven, starts pulling back from EU energy integration, it’s clear the entire house of cards is wobbling.

The lesson? If a policy needs someone else to suffer economically in order to succeed, it’s not a good policy.

No More Mr. Nice Norseman

Norway’s quiet rebellion isn’t just about politics or local pricing. It’s a systemic indictment of the renewable-first, common-grid fantasy driving Europe’s energy agenda. A nation that exports more electricity than it consumes shouldn’t have its citizens paying some of the continent’s highest prices. And it certainly shouldn’t be forced to comply with policy packages it had no real role in shaping.

Blas is right to call Norway’s revolt a “wake-up call.” Whether Europe hits snooze or finally faces the consequences of its magical thinking will shape the continent’s energy landscape for decades to come.

One thing is clear: Norway is not going to be Europe’s doormat anymore.

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Source: Javier Blas, Why Norway’s Political Crisis Is a European Energy Problem, Bloomberg Opinion, February 3, 2025. Archived link

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