Lysaker, 18 October 2004 Nord Pool has received the following information from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE): Falling temperatures have contributed to increased Nordic electricity consumption. From week 40 to 41, the increased demand has mainly been supplied by increased production in Norwegian hydroelectricity plants. This has led to reduced Norwegian import during the daytime. Still, there has been a Norwegian net import of electricity of 215 GWh . During week 41, there has been an inflow to the Norwegian water reservoirs of 3.4 TWh. This is 30 per cent above normal, and contributed to increasing the filling level in the water reservoirs with 1.7 percentage points, making the filling level as of 11th of October 80.6 per cent. This is 7.7 percentage points higher than week 41 last year. In Sweden, the reservoir filling level has now reached 82 per cent, after an increase of 1.1 percentage points during week 41. The prices in the Nordic wholesale market have been falling during the last month. This development is reflected in the end user market, where suppliers have announced price cuts in 5 consecutive weeks. ------------------------------- Contact person at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate: Marit Lundteigen Fossdal, NVE, tel: +47 2295 9353