NORWAY: Wind power support vow

Minister of Petroleum and Energy Odd Roger Enoksen said there was no reason to hesitate to invest in wind power, even if government support schemes are not yet in place.

Enoksen told parliament on Wednesday that the ministry was working frantically to announce support schemes shortly.

Enoksen had been quizzed by the opposition on what he intended to do to stave off an energy crisis in central Norway in a few years. Enoksen was again confronted with charges that wind power developers had put their plans on hold after the government broke and shelved negotiations for a Norwegian-Swedish market for so-called green certificates.

“Those who intend to invest in wind power have no reason to wait,” Enoksen said. He said that the government’s planned support scheme will be better than that a Norwegian-Swedish certificate market would have provided.

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