Lysaker, 18 October 2004 Nord Pool has received the following information from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE): A further increase in the Swedish power production from week 39 to 40 has contributed to increased Swedish Export to Norway. More than 10 per cent of the total Norwegian consumption in week 40 has been covered by imports from Sweden. The Norwegian net import was 269 GWh. The high Swedish production has also led to increasing power export to Germany and Poland. The effective inflow of water to the Norwegian hydropower reservoirs during week 40 was approximately 2.5 TWh, which is normal for this week. Combined with relatively low power production, this has led to an increased reservoir filling of 0.9 percentage points. Hence, when entering week 41, the filling level was 78.9 per cent. This is 5.8 percentage points higher than the filling level for the same week last year. In Sweden, the reservoir filling is now 80.9 per cent, after an increase of 1.5 percentage points during week 40. In the end user market, a number of suppliers have announced further price reductions for standard variable price contracts. During the last four weeks, the average price for this type of contract is reduced by 0.025 NOK/KWh. ------------------------------- Contact person at the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate: Marit Lundteigen Fossdal, NVE, tel: +47 2295 9353