Norway’s energy sector is at the centre of a dramatic political storm. With an election looming in September, Finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum pulled his Centre Party out of the government, warning of greater dependence on what he calls Europe’s “dysfunctional” electricity market. But political uncertainty is not the only challenge — Norway faces a growing supply deficit, AI-driven demand spikes from data centres, and increasing hurdles in building new capacity.

This week, the Montel Weekly Podcast comes to you from Oslo at the Pareto Securities Power & Renewable Energy Conference. Montel’s Petter Udland sets the scene before we hear from Lars Ove Skorpen, Director Power & Renewable Energy at Pareto Securities.

We discuss the government crisis over the EU’s 4th Energy Package, the impact of AI and DeepSeek on Norway’s power demand, the challenges of expanding interconnectors, and why investment in new capacity is not keeping up with demand.

 Host: Richard Sverrisson - Editor-in-Chief, Montel.
 Guests:
 Lars Ove Skorpen - Director Power & Renewable Energy, Pareto Securities
 Petter Udland, Montel journalist, Oslo