Norway

How the Norwegian market works

The energy regulator is RME (Reguleringsmyndigheten for energi), which is part of NVE, the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate. RME regulates the grid companies (nettselskap). They operate as monopolies with an income cap set by the regulator (RME fact sheet 8/2025). Statnett runs the central grid and owns Elhub, the national platform where you order Norgespris (Store norske leksikon: Norgespris).

Your home connects to one local grid company, and RME's 2025 evaluation counted 77 grid companies with household customers (RME evaluation of grid fees). The grid company decides how you may connect and what the grid fee (nettleie) is. A separate supplier sells you the electricity and decides what you are paid for any surplus.

Norway has five price areas, NO1 to NO5. NO2 is the south-west, NO3 central Norway, NO4 Northern Norway (Nordland, Troms and Finnmark with part of Trøndelag) and NO5 parts of western Norway. The area price is a wholesale price, not the full amount on your bill (Store norske leksikon: price areas).

Electricity prices, Norgespris and electricity support

Most Norwegian households have two ways to price their electricity. Norgespris is a fixed price of 40 øre per kWh excluding VAT, which is 50 øre per kWh including 25% VAT. It has applied since 1 October 2025, covers up to 5,000 kWh per month for a home and 1,000 kWh per month for a holiday home, and grid fee, taxes and supplier mark-ups come on top (Store norske leksikon: Norgespris; Huseierne: Norgespris explained). In the part of Northern Norway where households pay no VAT on electricity, the price is 40 øre per kWh in total (Huseierne).

Without Norgespris you pay the spot price and automatically receive electricity support (strømstøtte): the state pays 90% of the hourly price above 77 øre per kWh excluding VAT (Teknisk Ukeblad, 29 October 2026). The support covers up to 5,000 kWh a month for households, and a Norgespris agreement means you no longer get the ordinary support. The government has proposed a threshold of 79 øre per kWh for 2027 (Store norske leksikon: the electricity support scheme).

The agreement runs to the end of the calendar year in which you ordered it, so anyone who signed up in 2025 is bound until 31 December 2026. For 2027 you must order again even if you have it now: ordering opens on 5 January 2027, and an order placed by the end of 14 January 2027 gives the price from 1 January 2027. The government has proposed 45 øre per kWh excluding VAT for 2027, and the final price depends on the budget negotiations, so check the price before you order (Teknisk Ukeblad, 29 October 2026; Government announcement: Norgespris for 2027 can be ordered from 5 January).

This matters for a battery. A battery earns from the gap between cheap and expensive hours, and on Norgespris every hour costs the same. RME has made the same point: with a fixed price the spot-price signal disappears, so the grid tariff becomes the customer's only incentive to move consumption (Teknisk Ukeblad on RME's evaluation). If you plan to charge on cheap hours, you need a contract that follows the spot price. We explain the arithmetic in dynamic energy contracts and how to actually save and how a home battery saves money. We did not verify how Norgespris interacts with a solar export contract.

Electricity tax and VAT

Electricity tax (elavgift) is 7.13 øre per kWh in 2026 for ordinary consumption, according to Skatteetaten. Households and public administration in Finnmark and in seven Troms municipalities (Karlsøy, Kvænangen, Kåfjord, Lyngen, Nordreisa, Skjervøy and Storfjord) are exempt (Skatteetaten: electricity tax). We did not check the 2027 rate.

VAT (merverdiavgift) is 25% on electricity for most households. Electricity for household use in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark is zero-rated; Skatteetaten's VAT handbook has a section for it (Skatteetaten: VAT handbook, section 6-6) and a VAT guide describes the household supply as 0% (VATupdate: Norway VAT guide 2026). We could not read the handbook text itself, so check Skatteetaten for your municipality.

Grid fees and the capacity element

Since 1 July 2022, the fixed part of the grid fee for customers using under 100,000 kWh a year must vary with the customer's demand for power. Before that it was the same for everyone. This is the capacity element (kapasitetsledd), and its purpose is to cut consumption peaks and the need for new grid (RME evaluation of grid fees).

RME found that 74 of 77 grid companies with household customers use a step model. Your step depends on your highest consumption hours in the month (typically the three highest), the price rises with each step, steps are often 2 to 5 kW or 5 to 10 kW, and the fee is normally settled monthly. The energy part of the fee is usually higher by day than at night: 71% of the companies do this, and 21% give weekends the night rate.

That is where a battery has a clear job. If it supplies the house during your peak hour, for example when the oven, car charger and heat pump run together, you may drop a step. RME has recommended smaller 1 kW steps and a larger share of income from the capacity element, which would raise the value of peak-cutting. These are recommendations to the ministry, not decided rules (Teknisk Ukeblad, 1 November 2025). Step limits and prices differ by grid company, so read your own tariff sheet before you size a battery (NVE: network tariffs).

As an indication only, the calculator site Regnestykket estimates that one capacity step costs NOK 300 to 500 a month, and, for a NOK 100,000 battery in NO1 or NO2, about NOK 900 a year from price arbitrage (Regnestykket: home batteries in Norway, updated 1 November 2026). We have not verified these figures against a grid company tariff, so use your own tariff and your own load profile.

Exporting solar power: plusskunde rules

A plusskunde is a customer with its own production who delivers no more than 100 kW to the grid. NVE says a plusskunde pays no fixed fee on electricity delivered to the grid and is exempt from grid fees on electricity consumed from its own production (NVE: network tariffs). The Storting's research service adds that self-consumed power is also exempt from electricity tax and VAT (Storting research note on household solar).

Only the electricity fed into the grid is metered and reported through Elhub. Your own use is not metered separately, and NVE estimates it (Storting research note). What you are paid for the surplus depends on the contract with your supplier. We did not review what suppliers pay in 2026, so compare offers on the export price alone.

Batteries are not part of these rules as written. We found nothing that says whether electricity exported from a battery counts as the customer's own production, so ask your grid company and supplier before you count on export income from a battery.

Tax and VAT on solar panels and batteries

Skatteetaten says that for your own home or holiday property the first NOK 15,000 a year of surplus income per property is tax-free. Above that, 85% of the excess is taxed as capital income at 22%, and you cannot deduct the cost of the system. Suppliers report the income of private customers, so the figure is often prefilled in your tax return. Credits from a virtual battery (solbank) scheme count as income when the supplier's compensation is fixed (Skatteetaten: selling surplus electricity). The page does not say when it was last updated, so check it for the current year.

On VAT, Skatteetaten's 2023 statement says a private owner who sells surplus to the grid is normally not conducting a business and does not have to register for VAT. It also says a private buyer cannot deduct the VAT paid on the system. The statement does not mention batteries (Skatteetaten: VAT treatment of solar installations).

We found no reduced rate or exemption for solar panels or batteries bought by households, so the 25% standard rate applies to the equipment and installation. A group of members of the Storting proposed on 13 October 2026 that the government investigate a VAT exemption for them by 1 October 2027, but that is a proposal, not law (Storting proposal 17 S (2026-2027)). Skatteetaten also added a section on battery energy storage systems to its 2026 electricity tax circular on 1 July 2026. We could not read it, so we do not know whether it affects households (Skatteetaten: electricity tax circular 2026).

Enova support

Enova runs a support scheme for homeowners from 2025 to 2028, with a limit of NOK 100,000 per home across all measures. Solar panels and a measure called a price- and power-controlled energy storage system are both on the list (Enova: terms for the accumulator tank measure, with the list of measures).

For solar, installers and a municipal page describe 25% of approved costs, up to NOK 2,500 per kW installed. The system must be connected as a plusskunde and installed by a registered company (Klimaetaten Oslo: solar panels on a private home; Elkonor: Enova schemes). Sources differ on the maximum: Huseierne reports 15 kW and NOK 37,500 (Huseierne on Enova's changes), while the Oslo page gives two different caps, so check Enova's current terms.

The storage measure is not a grant for a battery on its own. Oslo's Klimaetaten, which relays Enova's terms, describes support of up to NOK 10,000 for a system that steers consumption on the electricity price and the home's total use. It requires a main meter connection (for example a HAN adapter), a control hub, at least two controllable devices, and control of at least two energy stores such as a hot water tank, electric floor heating, an electric car or a heat pump with water-based heating. The examples do not include a home battery, and it sets no minimum kWh (Klimaetaten Oslo: price- and power-controlled energy storage system).

Reports agree with that reading. Teknisk Ukeblad ran the headline "No Enova support for home batteries in Norway" on 9 April 2026 (Teknisk Ukeblad), and Regnestykket says that in 2026 Enova gives no support for pure home batteries (Regnestykket). Some installers advertise the NOK 10,000 as battery support. We could not open Enova's own terms page for this measure, so ask Enova or your installer in writing before relying on it.

Check the application timing too. Enova's terms for the accumulator tank say the approval is valid for six months from the decision and that invoices must be dated after the decision date, while the Oslo page for the storage measure says invoices must be dated within the 12 months before you apply. We did not review support from municipalities or Husbanken.

Installing and connecting a battery

Anyone offering or carrying out electrical installation work must be registered as a company in the Elvirksomhetsregisteret, with a permanently employed person responsible for professional standards. Some work on your own home is exempt from the registration duty, but we did not review what a private owner may do, and we advise using a registered company for a solar or battery installation (DSB: Elsikkerhet 96). DSB's letter to solar installers says the electrical work must be done by people with a relevant trade certificate (DSB letter to solar installers).

Contact your grid company before you order. Under current RME practice, a customer may feed in energy up to the size of the main fuse. RME proposed a simpler route on 28 September 2026 for small solar systems on existing connections: the customer would inform the grid company and install unless the company objects within one month, for inverters up to 6 kW on a single-phase and 11 kW on a three-phase connection. The consultation deadline is 20 November 2026, so it is not in force, and it proposes no battery rules (RME consultation 3/2026).

We found no Norwegian rule that sets out how a household battery is notified, metered or tariffed. RME's September 2026 report on hybrid hydro-and-battery plants shows open questions about metering behind the main meter and how batteries that both draw and feed in are tariffed (RME report 6/2026). Ask your grid company in writing how it will treat the battery, and ask for the answer before you sign. Our guides on how to choose a home battery and what size home battery you need list what to ask an installer.

Safety, wiring and fire

The 2026 edition of the Norwegian installation standard, NEK 400, has applied since 1 July 2026. Its solar part (712) is completely revised, with new requirements for fire safety, DC marking and battery storage (NITO: NEK 400:2026 updates). We have not read the standard itself. Separately, the regulation on low-voltage installations (FEL) § 16 requires a risk assessment when an existing installation is changed, so that the safety level does not fall (Elvia installer newsletter, April 2026).

On placement, a report for DSB and the Norwegian Building Authority (DiBK) recommended that larger lithium-ion batteries are stored and charged in well-ventilated rooms that are not living areas or escape routes, ideally in outbuildings, with closed doors and early-warning detectors. It says this fits guidance from the electrical contractors' association NELFO for home energy storage. The report did not simulate home energy storage systems, so this is a recommendation and not a rule (RISE report for DSB and DiBK: venting from lithium-ion batteries in homes).

Local fire services publish their own guidance. For example, Rana fire and rescue says battery rooms should be fire-resistant, well ventilated and provide for cooling water (Rana brann og redning: solar and battery installations). That is local guidance for designers and installers, not a national rule. We found no DSB guidance written specifically for home battery systems and did not review the building regulations (TEK). Tell your home insurer before installation and ask in writing whether the battery's location affects your cover. Our guides on fire risk and chemistry, installing a battery outside and backup during a power cut cover the practical side.

Plug-in solar and plug-in batteries

DSB warned in January 2025 that there is no finished standard for plug-in balcony panels. It said that suppliers should tell customers the panels may only be used on a dedicated circuit installed by a registered electrical company. Its concerns are plug pins that stay live, a panel feeding the grid during an outage, and overloaded circuits. NEK 400 is read the same way: pluggable solar may only be plugged into a dedicated circuit for each unit (DSB: Elsikkerhet 96).

A proposal in the Storting dated 13 October 2026 states that plug-in solar and batteries are "in practice prohibited in Norway". It asks the government to change the rules so certified plug-in solar and battery units can connect to ordinary sockets, with proposals due by the end of 2027. It is a proposal and not law (Storting proposal 17 S (2026-2027)). Until the rules change, treat a plug-in battery as not allowed. Our guides on plug-in and installed home batteries and balcony power plants with storage explain the technical differences, and we follow the rules as they change.

Outside Norway

Rules, tariffs and incentives for home batteries differ from country to country, so do not apply the figures on this page to a home elsewhere. We are adding guides for other countries to this section.

Common questions about Norway

Related guides

Compare how other markets handle the same questions, or size your own system first:

• Home batteries in Sweden
• Home batteries in Denmark
• Home batteries in Germany
• Home batteries in United Kingdom
• Home battery capacity guides (5 kWh to 30 kWh+)
• Home battery brand guides
• All country guides