Consumption down

The figures are still uncertain, but Norway’s national main grid owner and operator Statnett says that Norway’s power-consumption sank by 200 MW. This reduction was equivalent to just under 10 percent of Oslo’s total consumption, or five million 60-watt light bulbs.

“That’s quite a lot”, Irene Meldal, Statnett’s head of communications told the Nowegian Telegram Bureau (NTB).

106 council districts participated

In addition to the opera house in Sydney, the Burj building in Dubai, and the Eiffel Tower, the Norwegian Royal Palace and many cities and towns participated in the event. They join the other over 80 cities worldwide.

In the centre of Stavanger, the cathedral, theatre, concert hall, and the Radisson SAS Atlantic Hotel were some of the buildings that were blacked-out. If you happen to have been walking in or near Breiavannsparken, you would have noticed both the lights and the fountain were turned off.

“Our impression was that many took part in the demonstration”, Rasmus Hansson, the secretary-general in Norway’s World Wildlife Fund informed NTB.

A start

It was a small reduction in comparison to the 15,000 megawatts that Norway consumes, though, according to Auke Lont, Statnett’s managing director.

“This is because heating and industry, for example, are responsible for a comparatively much higher part of what is consumed than what is used for lighting. However, we think that turning the lights off is a nice symbolic act, where people get the opportunity to show that they care about the world’s energy consumption and environment”, he said.

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