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☆ Politicians waking up to higher-cost offshore wind power, Equinor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I believe that politics and markets will adjust, and that is also necessary in order to keep up the pace of offshore wind developments," Paal Eitrheim told Reuters on the sideline of the Norwegian company's autumn conference in Oslo. The offshore wind industry has found itself in a perfect storm of rising inflation, interest rate hikes and supply chain bottlenecks, in some cases leading to project cancellations as support schemes failed to adjust. Similarly, Britain has adjusted the price for next year's renewables auction higher by 66%, after failing to attract offshore wind bids in the previous round. Equinor is considering extensions to existing offshore wind farms in Britain that could qualify for auctions in future, and Eitrheim defended higher prices in the near term after over a decade of cost reductions. "Although it's dramatic right now, I think, as we are building this supply chain, we are going to come back to a price level for offshore wind that is competitive for governments, for companies and also consumers."

Persons: Paal Eitrheim, Equinor, Eitrheim, Nora Buli, Terje Solsvik, Mark Potter Organizations: ASA, Bp, Reuters, BP, York, Thomson Locations: OSLO, United States, Britain, Norwegian, Oslo, York, New York

☆ Norway's Statkraft may return to British offshore wind
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Statkraft AS FollowOSLO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Norway's state-owned Statkraft could return to the British offshore wind market, but its key focus remains Ireland, Norway and Sweden, its CEO told Reuters on Friday. He expected future rounds were being re-calibrated after Britain's most recent renewable energy auction failed to attract new offshore wind projects as subsidies were deemed too low and not reflecting rising costs in the industry. Statkraft is also already one of Britain's biggest onshore renewables developers, has a large office in London and knows the market well from previous offshore wind projects, he said. Still, the company's main focus for offshore wind is Ireland, where it is developing 2.2 gigawatts (GW) together with partner Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. It also plans to participate in Norway's first offshore wind auctions and in October bought Swedish Njordr Offshore Wind, which has an early-stage development pipeline of 21 GW.

Persons: Phil Noble, Toennesen, Statkraft, Nora Buli, Alexander Smith Organizations: Burbo, REUTERS, OSLO, Reuters, Dogger Bank, Triton, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Thomson Locations: Mersey, Liverpool, Britain, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, London, Dudgeon, Sheringham, England

We are growing but nowhere near fast enough," said Ben Blackwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy Council. In June, Siemens Gamesa said quality problems at its two most recent onshore wind turbines would cost 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) to fix. "The ratio between risk and reward is out of line in the offshore wind market in many jurisdictions. You can see this from investors not showing up," the Global Wind Energy Council's Blackwell told Reuters. "The situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe," Orsted CEO Mads Nipper said last month.

Persons: Pascal, Jon Wallace, WindEurope, Markus Krebber, Germany's, Ben Blackwell, Rob West, Siemens Gamesa, Fraser McLachlan, McLachlan, Jochen Eickholt, Wallace, Energy Council's Blackwell, Denmark's Orsted, RWE's Krebber, Joe Biden's, Mads Nipper, Nina Chestney, Nichola Groom, Christoph Steitz, Nora Buli, Francesca Landini, Toby Sterling, David Clarke Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European, Jupiter Asset Management, EU, Shell, Siemens, LinkedIn, Wind Energy, Thunder Said Energy, GCube Insurance, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Energy, Reuters, European Commission, Thomson Locations: Le Havre, Normandy, France, European Union, Britain, Netherlands, Norway, Ukraine, Jupiter, U.S, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam

Pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which are not used, are seen in the harbour of Mukran, Germany, on September 30, 2022. Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline had accounted for 15% of Europe's gas imports in 2021, according to the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. A second Nord Stream 2 link was planned but never operated. "Our biggest risk was that Russia can manipulate our energy markets," EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson told Reuters. Across the EU, gas storage caverns are now 95% full, Gas Infrastructure Europe data show.

Persons: Pipes, Fabian Bimmer, Kadri Simson, SEB, Ole Hvalbye, Tom Marzec, Wood Mackenzie, Gergely Molnar, Jacob Mandel, Kate Abnett, Julia Payne, Nora Buli, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Reuters Graphics, EU Energy, Reuters, EU, SEB Commodities, Gas Infrastructure, International Energy Agency, Aurora Energy Research, Thomson Locations: Baltic, Mukran, Germany, Russia, BRUSSELS, OSLO, Europe, Ukraine, RUSSIA, Norway, United States, Russian, Greece, Poland, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, France, Reuters Graphics Germany, Belgium, Britain, Portugal, Spain, Paris, Brussels, Oslo

☆ Offshore wind drops out of UK auction on costs, risking climate goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

General view of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, Britain, September 5, 2018. The result was bad news for Britain's 2050 net zero emissions target, which calls for 50 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind capacity by 2030 versus around 14 GW now. In a 2022 auction, offshore wind projects were the main recipient of funding, with 7 gigawatts (GW) awarded, but developers did not even bid in the latest auction, the results of which were published on Friday. The lack of new offshore wind capacity would cost consumers 1 billion pounds a year, it added. Bid prices for renewable energy CfDs are expressed in 2012 money, with inflation meaning actual prices are higher.

Persons: Orsted, Phil Noble, Graham Stuart, Ed Miliband, Sweden's Vattenfall, Nora Buli, Miral Fahmy, Jason Neely Organizations: REUTERS, UK's Department for Energy Security, Turbine, Energy, Britain, Labour Party, Conservatives, Thomson Locations: Walney, Blackpool, Britain, OSLO, Oslo

☆ Orsted plunges 20% on risk of $2.3 billion in US impairments
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

General view of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, Britain, September 5, 2018. "The situation in U.S. offshore wind is severe," Chief Executive Mads Nipper told reporters on a conference call. The company's Ocean Wind 1, Sunrise Wind, and Revolution Wind projects are adversely impacted by several supplier delays, which may trigger impairments of up to 5 billion crowns, the company said in a statement. On top of this, the increase in long-dated interest rates in the United States affected both offshore as well as some onshore wind projects and will cause impairments of around 5 billion crowns, Orsted said. The U.S. government has set a national goal to develop 30 gigawatt of offshore wind by 2030.

Persons: Orsted, Phil Noble, Mads Nipper, Bernstein, Terje Solsvik, Gursimran Kaur, Nora Buli, Andy Sullivan, Conor Humphries Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S ., Ocean, Public Service Enterprise, Thomson Locations: Walney, Blackpool, Britain, Rights OSLO, United States, U.S, New Jersey, Oslo, Bengaluru

[1/2] Norwegian Air Force F-16 fighters (front) and Italian Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighters patrol over the Baltics during a NATO air policing mission from Zokniai air base near Siauliai, Lithuania, May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOSLO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Norway will donate U.S.-made F-16 combat aircraft to Ukraine, the Norwegian prime minister announced during a visit to Kyiv on Thursday, joining an effort led by the Netherlands and Denmark. F-16s have been on Ukraine's wish list for a long time because of their destructive power and global availability. "We are planning to donate Norwegian F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, and will provide further details about the donation, numbers and time frame for delivery, in due course," Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement. "The donation of these F-16 jets will significantly strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities," Norway's Defence Minister Bjoern Arild Gram said in the statement.

Persons: Ints, Jonas Gahr Stoere, Stoere, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Bjoern Arild Gram, Terje Solsvik, Nora Buli, Mark Heinrich, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Norwegian Air Force, Italian Air Force Eurofighter, NATO, REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Norway's, Romania, U.S . Air Force, Thomson Locations: Siauliai, Lithuania, Rights OSLO, Norway, Ukraine, Norwegian, Kyiv, Netherlands, Denmark

FRANKFURT/LONDON July 13 (Reuters) - Energy majors BP (BP.L) and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) have won a 7 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind site auction in Germany worth a record 12.6 billion euros ($14.1 billion), allowing them entry to the central European market without a partnership. The awards for capacity due to come online in 2030 also excluded leading offshore wind developers, such as RWE (RWEG.DE) and Orsted (ORSTED.CO). AUCTION DESIGNThe 7 GW electronic auction officially opened in January and bidders had until June 1 to submit offers. In previous German lease auctions, companies have made low or negative bids with the expectation of subsidies from the state. Industry groups have said the high costs of the leases could drive up the cost of offshore wind projects.

Persons: Bundesnetzagentur, Bernstein, WindEurope, Orsted, Norway's, TotalEnergies, Vera Eckert, Susanna Twidale, Christoph Steitz, Ron Bousso, Nora Buli, Nina Chestney, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Energy, BP, Industry, Thomson Locations: FRANKFURT, Germany, Macquarie, England, Danish

☆ Icelandic volcano erupts near capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Smoke billows and lava spurts after the eruption of a volcano, on the Reykjanes peninsula, near the capital Reykjavik, in southwest Iceland, July 10, 2023, in this picture obtained from social media. Juergen Merz - Glacier Photo Artist/via REUTERSOSLO, July 10 (Reuters) - A volcano has erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland, near the capital Reykjavik, following intense earthquake activity in the area, the country's Meteorological Office (IMO) said on Monday. "At the moment, it's a very small eruption," said Matthew Roberts of the service and research division at the IMO. Reykjanes Peninsula is a volcanic and seismic hot-spot southwest of the capital Reykjavik. "This is not a volcanic eruption with any ash.

Persons: Juergen Merz, Matthew Roberts, IMO's Roberts, Nora Buli, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, country's Meteorological, Reykjavik's, Keflavik, Thomson Locations: Reykjavik, Iceland, REUTERS OSLO, Reykjanes, Oslo

☆ Shell warns of big drop in gas trading results
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

July 7 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L), the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) trader, said on Friday second-quarter gas trading results were expected to come in "significantly lower" quarter-on-quarter, though in line with the previous two years' second quarters. Shell cited "seasonality and fewer optimisation opportunities" as reasons for its lower gas trading result. The company does not provide figures for its gas trading results or say what proportion of its business it accounts for. "Shell's trading update included a number of operational indicators which were broadly in line with our forecasts," said RBC equity analyst Biraj Borkhataria in a note. "Weaker trading across oil and gas which should be expected by the market given lower gas prices and the seasonality of Shell's LNG portfolio."

Persons: Shell, Biraj Borkhataria, Eva Mathews, Nora Buli, David Goodman, Mark Potter Organizations: Shell, RBC, Exxon, Thomson Locations: Norway, writedowns, Bengaluru, Shadia, London

☆ European wind developers play down Siemens Gamesa turbine troubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

UBS analysts said that in a worst-case scenario charges for Siemens Energy could exceed 5 billion euros. Denmark's Orsted said it operates one onshore wind farm with Siemens Energy turbines and that Orsted's portfolio of turbines has "high availability rates, reflecting that wind power has very little down-time." Siemens Gamesa has already told Iberdrola that it would proceed with a retrofit design, the source said, adding no technical issues for the remaining fleet of Siemens Gamesa turbines had been observed. Siemens Energy shares were up 5.7% at 1428 GMT, recovering some losses after analysts said Friday's sell-off was overblown. Siemens Gamesa first disclosed problems around its 5X model in July 2021, flagging higher than expected ramp-up costs.

Persons: Siemens Gamesa, Germany's, Denmark's Orsted, Eolus Vind, Iberdrola, Friday's, Andres Gonzalez, Forrest Crellin, Christoph Steitz, Marek Strzelecki, Nikolaj Skydsgaard, Nora Buli, Pietro Lombardi, Nina Chestney, Mark Potter, Alexander Smith Organizations: Siemens, Siemens Energy, UBS, EDF, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Siemens Gamesa, Poland's PGE, Thomson Locations: Spanish, Copenhagen, Baltica, Baltic, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Oslo, Madrid

Henriette Borgund knows attackers can find weaknesses in the defences of a big renewables power company - she's found them herself. She joined Norway's Hydro (NHY.OL) as an "ethical hacker" last April, bringing years of experience in military cyberdefence to bear at a time of war in Europe and chaos in energy markets. They're nervously monitoring a hybrid war where physical energy infrastructure has already been targeted, from the Nord Stream gas pipelines to the Kakhovka dam. It said Russia had tried to destroy digital networks and cause power cuts, and that missile attacks on facilities were often accompanied by cyberattacks. "Companies in the energy space, their core business is producing energy, not cybersecurity," said Jalal Bouhdada, CEO of cybersecurity firm Applied Risk, a division of DNV.

Persons: Nora Buli, Henriette Borgund, she's, shoring, Michael Ebner, cyberattacks, didn't, Swantje Westpfahl, James Forrest, Cem Gocgoren, Stephan Gerling, Mathias Boeswetter, Leonhard Birnbaum, Jalal Bouhdada, Nina Chestney, Christoph Steitz, America Hernandez, Paris Pavel Polityuk, Guy Faulconbridge, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, Norway's Hydro, Reuters, Hydro's Oslo, Hydro, Ukraine, cyberattacks, Germany's Institute for Security, TRITON, Triton, Svenska, ICS CERT, University of Tulsa, E.ON, " Companies, Pravin Char, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, Fosen, Norway, Ukraine, OSLO, LONDON, FRANKFURT, Europe, Nord, Russia, Ukrainian, Moscow, United States, Russian, Capgemini, Saudi, Swedish, DNV, Oslo, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Kiev

☆ Sweden should be admitted to NATO in July, Norway PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

OSLO, May 22 (Reuters) - NATO's Vilnius summit in July should give approval for Sweden to become a member of the organisation, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told foreign correspondents in Oslo on Monday. Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Nora Buli, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SummarySummary Companies Shell, Equinor shares outperform sector indexRivals BP, Chevron, Exxon also beat expectationsOil and gas prices slumped in first quarterShell shares up 2.1%, Equinor up 2.7%LONDON/OSLO, May 4 (Reuters) - Energy giants Shell (SHEL.L) and Equinor (EQNR.OL) reported higher-than-expected first-quarter profits on Thursday, using the heft of their trading desks to offset lower oil and gas prices. The stronger-than-expected profits from the two companies follow forecast beating results from rivals Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron and BP over the past week. Shell's shares were up around 2.1% in early trading and Equinor shares rose around 2.7%, outperforming a European index of oil and gas companies (.SXEP) which was up around 1%. Benchmark Brent crude oil prices averaged $81 per barrel in the first three months of the year, down 16% from a year earlier and 7% from the fourth-quarter. Lower natural gas prices also weighed on Shell's giant integrated gas business, with profits slumping 18% on the quarter.

☆ Carbon capture project in Norway temporarily halted by high costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"New cost calculations show that we cannot implement the original plans for the carbon capture project within the existing budget," Knut Inderhaug, head of project operator Hafslund Oslo Celsio, said in a statement. Investment costs for the Klemetsrud waste plant, which are being subsidised by both the Oslo city council and the Norwegian government, were initially set at 5.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($518.88 million). Celsio was also in contact with municipal and state stakeholders over how best to realise the project. The CO2 captured at Klemetsrud is part of Norway's prestigious Longship carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, which also includes carbon capture at a cement plant and the Northern Lights transport and storage project. Klemetsrud was expected to capture round 400,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, corresponding to 14% of Oslo's overall emissions of greenhouse gases.

☆ Drax shares tumble after Britain rejects carbon-capture project
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 30 (Reuters) - Shares of British power generator Drax (DRX.L) fell 10% on Thursday after the government turned down its carbon-capture project for the country's Track-1 programme. The project was not selected for Track-1, but the government will engage further with the project following an assessment outcome, the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero said. Britain laid out plans on Thursday to boost its energy security and independence through investment in efforts to move towards cleaner, more affordable energy sources. Last week, Drax said it was pausing its planned UK investment of 2 billion pounds ($2.45 billion) in bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) as it awaited clarity on UK funding. Reporting by Nora Buli in Oslo and Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Norway wealth fund to vote in favour of UniCredit remuneration plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OSLO, March 26 (Reuters) - Norway's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world's largest investors, will vote in favour of the UniCredit (CRDI.MI) remuneration package, it said on Sunday. The Italian bank is due to hold its annual meeting of shareholders on March 31. Orcel's current pay package of up to 7.5 million euros ($8.06 million) a year makes the former head of investment banking at Swiss lender UBS (UBSG.S) one of Europe's best paid bank executives. The Norwegian fund owns 2.65% of UniCredit's shares, worth some $728 million, at the end of 2022, according to fund data. ($1 = 0.9301 euros)Reporting by Nora Buli, writing by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje SolsvikOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ In show of unity, NATO and EU heads visit North Sea gas platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Equinor CEO Anders Opedal visit the Troll A gas platform in the North Sea, Norway March 17, 2023. Ole Berg-Rusten /NTB/via REUTERSTROLL A PLATFORM, North Sea, March 17 (Reuters) - The heads of NATO and the European Commission flew on Friday to a North Sea platform to discuss the security of supplies and infrastructure, a visit underlining Norway's importance for gas shipments since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Troll A platform extracts gas from Norway's biggest gas field. After a drop in Russian flows, the Nordic country last year became the largest gas supplier to the EU. The field accounts for one third of daily Norwegian gas exports to Europe.

☆ Equinor sees "a lot of interest" in long-term gas deals, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Equinor ASA FollowBERGEN, Norway, March 17 (Reuters) - Equinor (EQNR.OL) has seen significant interest among gas buyers in Europe for entering into long-term supply contracts lasting between three and 10 years, the Norwegian company's CEO told Reuters on Friday. "Long-term contracts for us means three to 10 years and we see that there is a lot of interest for long-term contracts at the moment," Equinor CEO Anders Opedal told Reuters. The visit underlines the importance of the relationship between the European Union and non-EU Norway when it comes to energy, Opedal said. "It shows how important it is that we focus both on security of supply and the security on the installations," he said. Troll alone supplies 11% of all gas consumed in the EU, according to Equinor.

☆ Fears of European industry exodus to U.S. may be overdone
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, the risks are offset not only by the substantial existing European incentives, but also other factors - such as proximity to European consumers - that many companies cite as critical in their decisions. Think tank Bruegel says EU support is already on a par with, or even larger than, IRA money. Moreover, well over half of the IRA support is for renewable energy production, with local content requirements playing a very limited role. Some executives say rather than providing more subsidies, Europe needs to simply improve the way they are given. The United States is not a panacea for European firms, not least due to questions about what approach the next U.S. administration might take.

[1/5] Campaigners who have been protesting in Oslo for over a week against the wind turbines at Fosen, end the campaign with a demonstration in front of the Royal Castle in Oslo, Norway, March 3, 2023. Demonstrators had urged government action after Norway's supreme court ruled in 2021 that 151 turbines erected at Fosen in central Norway violated Sami rights under international conventions, but remained in operation 17 months later. Saying that a transition to green energy should not come at the expense of Indigenous rights, protesters blocked access to several ministries, putting the centre-left minority government in crisis mode. "We have made the government take responsibility for the ongoing violations of human rights and apologise," Sami artist and campaigner Ella Marie Haetta Isaksen told Reuters. "This case is bigger than just Fosen," Christian Rynning-Toennesen, the head of utility Statkraft and the operator of one of the affected wind farms, told reporters on Thursday.

[1/3] Greta Thunberg is carried away as activits demonstrate outside the Ministry of Finance entrance and several other ministries in protest that the wind turbines at Fosen, which the Supreme Court has said are illegal, have not been demolished. Alf Simensen/NTB/via REUTERSOSLO, March 1 (Reuters) - Norwegian police on Wednesday briefly detained environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg during a demonstration in Oslo, removing her and other activists from the finance ministry. The campaigners are demanding the removal of wind turbines from reindeer pastures on Sami Indigenous land in central Norway. Thunberg, holding a red, blue, yellow and green Sami flag, was lifted and carried away by police officers while hundreds of demonstrators chanted slogans. Activists on Tuesday said they had raised close to $100,000 in recent days to help individual demonstrators pay police fines.

☆ Battery start-up Freyr accelerates U.S. plans on IRA support
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Nora Buli | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OSLO, March 1 (Reuters) - New York-listed Norwegian battery start-up Freyr is accelerating investment in a U.S. plant to benefit from Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits, its chief executive told Reuters this week. Of the two large battery plants Freyr is currently building, plans for Giga America, in the state of Georgia, were previously anticipated to be 10-12 months behind those of Giga Arctic, in northern Norway. Tax credits offered through the IRA meant that Freyr would receive $37 million per gigawatt hour (GWh) of capacity installed in the United States, he added. The IRA also offers investment tax credits for energy storage projects, he said. A first, smaller customer qualification site in Norway will start production on March 28, but commercial operations are scheduled for 2024.

☆ Thunberg, other protesters block Norway energy ministry over wind farms
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The reason for the action is that the wind turbines at Fosen, which the Supreme Court has said are illegal, have not been demolished. NTB/Ole Berg-Rusten via REUTERSOSLO, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg and dozens of other activists on Monday blocked entrances to Norway's energy ministry, protesting against wind turbines built on land traditionally used by indigenous Sami reindeer herders. Norway's supreme court in 2021 ruled that two wind farms built in central Norway violated Sami rights under international conventions, but the turbines remain in operation more than 16 months later. "I am here to support the struggle for human rights and indigenous rights," Thunberg told Reuters while sitting outside the ministry's main entrance with other demonstrators. The government has said the ultimate fate of the wind farms is a complex legal and political quandary despite the supreme court ruling and is hoping to find a compromise.

European gas prices rallied in the run-up to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine begun almost exactly a year ago and they leapt to record highs when Russia subsequently cut supplies of relatively cheap pipeline gas. Although European prices have eased to around 50 euros ($53) per megawatt hour (MWh) from last August's peak of more than 340 euros, they remain above historic averages. That was even when they had received significant levels of Russian gas on long-term contracts prior to the shut down of the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany in August. Nord Stream's closure drove up European gas prices, as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices, which also hit record levels of around 70 million British thermal units (mmBtu), compared with around $16 now . That could be tricky as the fall in gas prices this year has reduced the incentive to avoid the fuel.

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