Reservoir Watch
Europe's largest hydropower reserve. Norway's grid runs on hydropower, so NVE reports reservoir storage by electricity price area as energy (TWh) and filling degree (%), not water volume.
National fill
51.7%
Energy stored
45.2 TWh
Capacity
87 TWh
Price areas
5
Storage is measured as energy, by price area. NVE's Magasinstatistikk publishes reservoir storage as filling degree (%) and energy (TWh) for Norway's five electricity price areas (NO1–NO5) and nationally — there is no public per-reservoir feed, so this is the level Norway is tracked at. Fill % is usable energy in store ÷ usable capacity, comparable to other countries; absolute figures are TWh, not hm³.
Norway at a glance
National filling degree
51.7%
45.2 of 87 TWh stored
Price areas
5
Total capacity
87.4 TWh
Energy stored
45.2 TWh
Coverage: NVE Magasinstatistikk (weekly filling degree by elspot price area). Last reading: 2026-06-07.
National filling degree — multi-year
By price area
Sorted by capacitySouth-West Norway
NO2 · Kristiansand
Filling degree
44.6%
Northern Norway
NO4 · Tromsø
Filling degree
74.7%
Western Norway
NO5 · Bergen
Filling degree
39.0%
Central Norway
NO3 · Trondheim
Filling degree
45.0%
South-East Norway
NO1 · Oslo
Filling degree
60.4%
About Norway’s reservoirs
Norway holds Europe’s largest reservoir-based hydropower system — roughly 87 TWh of usable storage capacity, close to half of all reservoir storage in Europe. Hydropower supplies the large majority of Norwegian electricity, so the country’s reservoirs act as a continent-scale battery: filled by snowmelt and rain, drawn down to generate through winter.
Because storage is energy, NVE reports it as filling degree (%) and terawatt-hours rather than cubic metres, and at the level of the five electricity price areas (NO1–NO5) plus a national total. Filling typically bottoms out in late April–May before snowmelt, then refills through summer to peak in autumn. As of 2026-06-07, the national filling degree was 51.7%.
Frequently asked questions
How full are Norway’s reservoirs right now?
As of 2026-06-07, Norwegian hydropower reservoirs were 51.7% full nationally — about 45.2 TWh of stored energy out of roughly 87 TWh of usable capacity. Levels vary by price area, from the wetter west and north to the drier south-east.
Why is Norwegian reservoir storage shown in TWh, not cubic metres?
Norway’s grid is almost entirely hydropower, so NVE reports reservoir storage as the electricity it can still generate (filling degree % and energy in TWh), not as water volume. Fill % is the useful energy in store divided by usable energy capacity — directly comparable to other countries’ fill levels.
What are NO1–NO5?
They are Norway’s five electricity price areas (elspot areas): NO1 South-East (Oslo), NO2 South-West (Kristiansand), NO3 Central (Trondheim), NO4 North (Tromsø) and NO5 West (Bergen). NVE publishes reservoir filling degree for each, which is why this is the level Norway is tracked at — there is no public per-reservoir feed.
How often is the data updated?
Weekly. NVE’s Magasinstatistikk publishes filling degree every week (typically Wednesday, for the week ending the previous Sunday). This page refreshes from that feed.
Dataset coverage
Tracked
5
reservoirs
With data
5
reservoirs
Tracked capacity
87,438
GWh
Source: NVE — Norges vassdrags- og energidirektorat (Magasinstatistikk)
Norway is tracked by electricity price area (NO1–NO5), not per reservoir — NVE publishes weekly filling degree at that level. Storage is reported as energy (TWh).