NEWS

Norway contributed significantly to the current success of the producer of electric cars Tesla Motors. Now the country’s energy minister Tord Lien wants Elon Musk to share his knowledge and technology with Norway.

Tesla benefited a lot from Norway, thinks the minister of petroleum and energy Tord Lien. It’s been years since the country became the most important market for Tesla electric cars and contributed significantly to company’s growth. Now, Norwegian energy minister thinks it’s time for Norway to benefit from its generosity. This was the message he brought to the Silicon Valley this week.

– Norway has always been important for Tesla, and I think it is only fair if the company also gives something in return, commented the minister Tord Lien to E24 in a telephone talk from San Francisco.

The official reason of Lien’s trip to the US was to attend the technology conferences Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation in San Francisco, according to Regjeringen.no. During this travel Lien also visited Silicon Valley, where he went to see Nordic Innovation House and the headquarters of Google and Tesla.

Special attention Lien paid to the possibility of collaboration between Norway and Tesla on the development of more efficient energy system in the country. Since Norway has helped Musk’s company a lot with promotion and PR, the minister expressed his hopes that Tesla may be interested in sharing their knowledge and experience in the sphere of efficient energy use to renovate the current system in Norway, where different renewable resources are not coordinated while producing energy.

One of the energy trends that will characterize our future everyday life is a smarter management of consumption: for example, hot water tanks, instead of running in the morning when everybody takes shower, may in the future turn on during the day, to reduce the load on the power grid. The same applies to washing machines, electric vehicle charging and other functions.

According to E24, the Norwegian government is planning to establish eight new research centers for environmentally-friendly energy and technology (FME centers). The centers will specialize in different fields and sectors, including smart cities and zero emissions energy systems, sustainable solar technology and intelligent power distribution.

Lien has in fact asked Tesla to share its technology and expertise in order to develop new energy systems and related technology in Norway.

– The reason why we want a bilateral cooperation with Tesla, among others, is that we through FME scheme are investing heavily in the development of smart cities, storage and charging smart grid and zero-emission transportation. Tesla might like to contribute to these initiatives, says Lien.