Terje Aasland | |
---|---|
Minister of Energy [lower-alpha 1] | |
Assumed office 7 March 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Jonas Gahr Støre |
Preceded by | Marte Mjøs Persen |
Deputy Parliamentary Leader of the Labour Party | |
In office 13 October 2021 –7 March 2022 | |
Leader | Rigmor Aasrud |
Preceded by | Hadia Tajik |
Succeeded by | Åsmund Grøver Aukrust Lene Vågslid |
Member of the Storting | |
Assumed office 1 October 2005 | |
Deputy | Jone Blikra |
Constituency | Telemark |
Personal details | |
Born | Skien,Telemark,Norway | 15 February 1965
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | Marit Aasland |
Children | 3 |
Terje Aasland (born 15 February 1965,in Skien) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He has served as Minister of Energy since 2022. He has also been an MP for Telemark since 2005.
Aasland is an educated electrician. He spent parts of his professional career in trade unions.
On the local level,Aasland held various positions in Skien municipality council from 1991 to 2003. He chaired the local party chapter from 1995 to 2000,and was the deputy leader of the county chapter from 1998 to 2000. During the same period he was a member of the Labour Party national board.
He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Telemark in 2005 and has been re-elected since.
Aasland was first vice chair of the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment from 2013 to 2017. He also served as the chair of the Standing Committee on Business and Industry from 2009 to 2013. He then served as second vice chair of the Standing Committee on Business and Industry from 2017 to 2021,and as the chair of the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment from 2021 to 2022.
After his party won the 2021 election,Aasland was appointed deputy parliamentary leader. [1]
In February 2022,Aasland opened for the use of ocean wind to electrify the Norwegian shelf. He said:"I believe that the development of offshore wind can happen faster than people think,and that it can be a win-win situation for Norway". [2]
Following Hadia Tajik's resignation after controversy regarding the use of a government apartment and fringe benefit;Marte Mjøs Persen was appointed her successor on 7 March 2022. Aasland was appointed Persen's successor. [3]
On 16 October 2023,alongside a cabinet reshuffle,the government announced that the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy would be renamed the Ministry of Energy from 1 January 2024. Thus Aasland's position was renamed Minister of Energy from the same date. [4]
On 23 March,Aasland attended a seminar held by Energy Valley in Fornebu. There he announced the government's intention to set "qualitative criteria" for floating offshore wind and not just look at which bidder can give the best bid financially. To E24,he elaborated:"This means that we will set some criteria and we will evaluate the industry's projects against when we will allocate areas". [5]
On 5 April,he announced that exploration permits had been granted for areas in the North and Barents Sea. The respective permits were given to Equinor for the North Sea,and two sub companies for Equinor,Horisont Energi AS and Vår Energi AS,for the Barents Sea. Aasland stated:"Capturing and storing CO2 is necessary for the world to achieve its ambitious climate goals. In Norway,we have extensive experience with storing CO2 from the Sleipner and Snøhvit fields,and we know that it works. The Government will facilitate the Norwegian continental shelf to retain a leading role in this area". [6]
During a debate on Debatten on 19 April,Aasland was asked by host Fredrik Solvang if he agreed with his predecessor's statement about it being "unfortunate to place restrictions on the export of electricity and Norwegian hydropower". Aasland refused to answer the question,and referred to that the government would have a look at the power situation. He notably said that he couldn't reply to what Mjøs Persen had said months ago. [7]
On 10 June,he announced that the government would be giving two exploration permits for storing CO2,stating:"Two exploration permits have now been granted for CO2 storage. The allocation of these exploration permits will be an important contribution both to facilitating a new commercial industry and new profitable industrial activity that requires CO2 storage. These awards will strengthen the development of this important climate measure". [8]
On 6 July,Aasland stated that he wouldn't rule out rationing and limiting electricity imports if the power shortages worsened. He specified that these measures would be more relevant for companies,but wouldn't rule out it effecting the general population. [9]
After continuous pressure from the opposition parties and the government parties,the government announced new measures to tackle the electricity costs on 7 August. This included restrictions on exports regarding low degrees of filling. Aasland stated:"We want to be clear that people do not have to fear a lack of electricity for their homes during the winter. Unfortunately,we see that prices are likely to be even higher in the future than previous estimates". He also emphasised that the electricity supply was better than weeks prior. [10]
In response to a question from Progress Party MP Marius Arion Nilsen on 2 September;Aasland stated that there hadn't been any new estimates of how much the electricity bill would effect individual households as a consequence of electrifying the petroleum shelves since 2020. Nilsen in turn called it "irresponsible" of the government to go ahead with electrifying the shelves without estimating the effects of electricity prices. [11]
In October,after President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen expressed interest in negotiating with Norway over price corridors for gas,Aasland rejected the idea. He asserted that the Norwegian government didn't sell the gas,but the companies did,and they followed the terms of the market. He did however affirm that Norway was in dialogue with the European Union about stabilising the energy markets. [12]
The EU proposed a price corridor for gas in November,which Aasland warned against. He instead proposed more market based solutions. He also expressed understanding for it being proposed,in order to ease the tension in the energy market. [13]
In mid-December,Aasland admitted that the government hadn't found any immediate solutions to the high electricity prices. He did however express hope that the Energy Commission that the government had put down,would be able to find long-term solutions and other short-term solutions as well. [14]
In January 2023,Aasland criticised his fellow cabinet colleague Ola Borten Moe after he criticised his own government's hydrogen investments. Aasland expressed that Borten Moe had misunderstood the government's intentions and made miscalculations. [15]
In February,prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre,accompanied by Aasland and finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum,announced that the electricity support scheme would be expanded until 2024. Aasland specified that a 50% increase in the scheme from September and November 2022 would not be affected by the new iteration. He also stated that said change would come into effect on 1 September 2023. [16]
On 2 March,after a crisis meeting with agriculture minister Sandra Borch and President of the Norwegian Sami Parliament Silje Karine Muotka regarding the Fosen wind farms,Aasland issued an apology to the Sami people on behalf of the government and recognised that human rights had been violated. This came in response to mass protests against the violation,which the Norwegian Supreme Court had ruled on 11 October 2021. Despite this,the protestors indicated that they would continue protesting the day after. [17]
In June,Aasland announced that the government would be sending a proposal for hearing in the Storting,where they would suggest limitation or halts in electricity export in extreme circumstances. He argued that this would help secure important societal functions. [18]
In August,Aasland,alongside finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum and prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced that the government would move in for electrification of the Melkøya power plant. The move would ensue the plant to stay operational until at least 2040. [19]
In December,his ministry announced that they had granted permission for development plans and concessions to be given for the Draugen and Njord platforms to be electrified. These would be powered from the shoreline. Aasland hailed it as a step for the industry to find solutions in order to reduce emissions. [20]
In January,he announced that the government would be approving a further 62 exploration permits in the Barents Sea,which would be distributed among 24 oil companies. [21]
Aasland was called in as a witness in a court case against activists who protested against the Fosen windmills the year before. The activists involved in the case had expected him to confirm that his apology was due to their protests,but this did not happen. Instead he testified that the apology came independently of the protests and work on the wind farms' legality had started right after the Norwegian Supreme Court ruling in 2021. [22] The activists were acquitted on 9 April. [23]
Aasland and digitalisation minister Karianne Tung announced in April that the government would be working on legislation to limit crypto mining. The legislation would also include limiting data centres around the country,which will be obliged to register and inform what services they provide. [24]
Aasland is married and has three children. [25]
Knut Arild Hareide is a Norwegian politician who served as a member of parliament from Hordaland and as the leader of the Christian Democratic Party from 2011 to 2019. He served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 2020 to 2021, and as Minister of the Environment from 2004 to 2005 in the second Bondevik cabinet. In 2007, he announced he would step down from the national political scene for the time being, but he returned when he was nominated as the top candidate for the Christian Democratic Party ticket in Akershus in the 2009 election where he won the county's leveling seat. After Dagfinn Høybråten stepped down as party leader, Hareide was unanimously elected to take his place at the 2011 party convention. In the 2013 election, Hareide was reelected to parliament, this time from his home county of Hordaland.
Jonas Gahr Støre is a Norwegian politician who has served as the 36th and current Prime Minister of Norway since 2021 and has been Leader of the Labour Party since 2014. He served under Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2012 and as Minister of Health and Care Services from 2012 to 2013. He has been a Member of the Storting for Oslo since 2009.
Fosen is a traditional district in Trøndelag, consisting of the municipalities Osen, Roan, Åfjord, Ørland, Indre Fosen, Orkland, Heim, Hitra and Frøya. The district is dominated by forested valleys, lakes, coastal cliffs but also shallow areas, and in the interior mountains reaching up to 675 m elevation. The western coast has many skerries and some islands, such as Stokkøya in Åfjord. There are some good salmon rivers, and sea eagles and other sea birds are very common along the coast, notably on the shallow area near Ørland (Grandefjæra). The west coast has mild winters, and some locations receive on average more than 2,000 mm of precipitation per year. Part of the Scandinavian coastal conifer forests are located in the valleys of the peninsula, and smaller areas are classified as temperate rainforest with 67 nature reserves. The largest nature reserve is Øyenskavelen, with many nature types including undisturbed forest, some of it classified as rainforest.
Ola Borten Moe is a Norwegian politician for the Centre Party. He was an MP for Sør-Trøndelag from 2005 to 2013, and was re-elected in 2021. From 2021 to 2023, he served as Minister of Research and Higher Education. He also served as Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 2011 to 2013.
Jan Tore Sanner is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party who served as Minister of Finance from 2020 to 2021. He previously served as Minister of Education from 2018 to 2020 and Minister of Local Government from 2013 to 2018. He was the party's deputy leader from 2004 to 2022, having first been second deputy for the first four years and first deputy for the last fourteen. Sanner has also been an MP for Akershus since 1993.
Anette Trettebergstuen is a Norwegian politician representing the Labour Party, who served as Minister of Culture and Equality in Støre's Cabinet from 2021 to 2023. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hedmark in 2005. She is the only openly lesbian politician in the Norwegian Parliament.
Trygve Magnus Slagsvold Vedum is a Norwegian politician who has served as Minister of Finance since 2021. A member of the Centre Party, which he has led since 2014, he has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hedmark since 2005. Vedum also served as Minister of Agriculture and Food from 2012 to 2013.
The Minister of Energy is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy. The current minister is Terje Aasland. The ministry is responsible for the government's energy policy, including management of Norway's energy resources, including the valuable deposits of petroleum and hydroelectricity. Major subordinate agencies and companies include the Water Resources and Energy Directorate, the Petroleum Directorate, Petoro, Gassnova, Gassco, Enova, Statnett and a partial ownership of Statoil. The position was created on 11 January 1978 as a response to the increased importance of oil on the Norwegian continental shelf. The position was merged with the Minister of Trade and Industry between 1992 and 1996. It was renamed Minister of Energy starting from 1 January 2024.
Espen Barth Eide is a Norwegian politician and political scientist. He is currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Jonas Gahr Støre's government, having previously done so under Jens Stoltenberg. He has been a member of the Norwegian Parliament since 2017, representing the Labour Party. He was elected to this seat in the 2017 election, and reelected in the 2021 election. From 2017 to 2021, Eide was the Labour Party's spokesperson for Energy, Climate and Environment. He also served as Minister of Climate and the Environment between 2021 and 2023.
Lubna Boby Jaffery is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She has served as minister of culture and equality since 2023 and a deputy member of parliament for Hordaland since 2009. She previously served as Bergen city commissioner for labour, social affairs, and housing from 2019 to 2021.
Hadia Tajik is a Pakistani-Norwegian jurist, journalist and politician from the Labour Party. She served as Minister of Labour and Social Inclusion from 2021 to 2022. She previously served as Minister of Culture from 2012 to 2013. She was 29 years of age at the time and became the youngest minister to serve in the Norwegian government. She is the first Cabinet member that is a Muslim. Tajik has served as a Member of Parliament representing Rogaland since 2017, and Oslo from 2009 to 2017. She was also the party's deputy leader from 2015 until 2022.
Tina Bru is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. From 2020 to 2021, she served as the Minister of Petroleum and Energy. She was elected to the Storting from Rogaland in 2013 and became a member of the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment. She was reelected to the Storting for the period 2017–2021, and continued as a member of the Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment.
Ingvild Kjerkol is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. She was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Nord-Trøndelag first time in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021. She has been a member of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications, and of the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services. From 2021 to 2024, she served as minister of health and care services. In 2024 she was accused of plagiarizing and fabricating parts of her master's thesis, leading to calls for her resignation. On Wednesday 10 April 2024, Nord University revoked her Master degree in Leadership in the Healthcare Sector, and in a Friday press conference the Prime Minister announced that she would be dismissed from her position.
Eigil Knutsen is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He has served as an MP for Hordaland since 2017, and was previously a deputy member from 2013 to 2017.
Sandra Konstance Nygård Borch is a Norwegian politician who served as the minister of research and higher education from 2023 to 2024 until her resignation over the extensive plagiarism of her master's thesis.
Bjørnar Selnes Skjæran is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as minister of fisheries from 2021 to 2023, and previously served as the party's deputy leader from 2019 to 2023 and mayor of Lurøy from 2011 to 2015.
Marte Mjøs Persen is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. She served as minister of labour and social inclusion from 2022 to 2023, and minister of petroleum and energy from 2021 to 2022. She served as the mayor of Bergen from 2015 until being elected to the Storting in 2021.
The Støre Cabinet is the incumbent government of the Kingdom of Norway, headed by Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre as Prime Minister. The government was appointed by King Harald V on 14 October 2021, following the parliamentary election on 13 September, consisting of the Labour Party (Ap) and the Centre Party (Sp) as a minority government.
Jan Christian Vestre is a Norwegian jurist, businessperson in the furniture industry, and politician for the Labour Party. He has served as Minister of Health and Care Services since 2024, and Minister of Trade and Industry between 2021 and 2024. Furthermore, he has been a deputy leader of the party since 2023.
Rune Bakervik is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as Chief Commissioner of Bergen from 2022 to 2023, and previously served as mayor, deputy mayor and city commissioner for urban development.