At least be honest, I know asking a lot from a journalist...
Norway uses virtually zero gas or oil for electricity generation. Hydro is 89.9% wind is 9.2%, gas is 0.2% so not even a rounding error.
Fun fact Norway heats with electric too, why they have cheap Hydro and the capacity to build much more all up and down their thousands of miles of deep fjord valleys each one of them has a river down the center. Norway is Europe’s battery all that water uphill and behind dams is instant on potential energy. There is no less than 4 HVDC cables that are bidirectional so you can pull Hydro power or send power from the EU and hold the water back for later ,Norway also is doing pump back Hydro where they again take EU power and pump water back uphill. It’s genius.
https://www.iea.org/countries/norway/electricity
ARTICLES
1- A New Job For Wave Energy: Water Desalination
CleanTechnica
May 15, 2025
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/05/15/a-new-job-for-wave-energy-water-desalination/
“The Norwegian startup Ocean Oasis is among the wave energy innovators exploring the offshore desalination angle. I had a chance to learn more about the company’s business plan at a press briefing while reporting for CleanTechnica from Oslo this week.*
Ocean Oasis deploys a large, boxy-shaped, buoy-type design. Buoys are a longtime feature of offshore infrastructure, floating on the surface of the water and bobbing up and down with the motion of the waves. That kinetic energy can be captured by an interior device underneath the surface that swings along with the buoy as well.
Offshore wind turbines and floating offshore solar arrays could be deployed to power offshore desalination plants, but wave energy has the advantage of direct application to reverse osmosis, without inserting an electricity generation step in between.
At the briefing, Christian Dubrau, the Head of Finance for Ocean Oasis, also pointed out that the buoy approach has a much smaller footprint than a solar array. Because the system has a low profile, it also does not raise the aesthetic issues confronted by offshore wind developers. Concerns over risks to avian traffic are also mitigated by the low silhouette.” (Excerpt)
2- How to Efficiently Manage Energy Consumption in Desalination Plants
Live to Plant
March 24, 2025
https://livetoplant.com/how-to-efficiently-manage-energy-consumption-in-desalination-plants/
“Desalination plants primarily utilize two technologies: reverse osmosis (RO) and thermal distillation methods (like multi-stage flash distillation or multi-effect distillation). Each method consumes a significant amount of energy, which is largely derived from electricity or thermal sources:
REVERSE OSMOSIS: This method uses high-pressure pumps to force seawater through semi-permeable membranes. It accounts for approximately 60-70% of the total energy consumption in desalination plants.
THERMAL DISTILLATION: This method relies on heating seawater to create steam, which is then condensed into fresh water. Thermal processes are typically less energy-efficient than RO and can account for up to 90% of the total operational costs.” (Excerpt)