Lysaker, 18 May 2005 Nord Pool has received the following information from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE): The Norwegian electricity production fell by 10 percent from week 16 to week 17. Gradually milder weather has contributed to reduced Nordic consumption. Further, strike in the Finnish paper industry has led to additional reductions in Finnish consumption. The Finnish electricity production together with Russian imports has been higher than the Finish consumption. This has resulted in Swedish imports from Finland. Along with reduced demand in the other Nordic countries, this has contributed to reduced prices at the Nordic power exchange and reduced Nordic hydroelectricity production. Reduced hydropower production has led to Norwegian net import from Sweden during week 17. However, high export to Denmark means that Norway is still a net exporter of electricity. The inflow of water to the Norwegian hydropower reservoirs was approximately normal during week 17. For week 18, the expected inflow is well above normal, which will give increasing reservoir filling levels. However, small changes in temperatures and precipitation can lead to significant changes in the inflow to the reservoirs at this time of the year. During week 17, the filling level in the Norwegian reservoirs has fallen by 0.6 percentage points to 31.6 percent. This is 4.0 percentage points higher than at the same time last year. In Sweden, the filling level is now 19.9 percent, after an increase of 0.2 percentage points from last week. ------------------------------- Contact person at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate: Marit Lundteigen Fossdal, NVE, tel: +47 2295 9353