Interesting stories from the newswires today...

12:04 14Jan2004 Norway, Sweden water reservoirs decline further

OSLO, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Norwegian and Swedish water reservoirs fell last week, continuing a
declining trend but with hydropower basins above levels seen in the same week of 2003, authorities
said on Wednesday.
Norway's water reservoirs dropped 2.3 percentage point versus the previous week to an average of
52.7 percent full, extending a decline that began in late September, Statistics Norway (SSB) said.
Norway's reservoirs averaged 43.5 percent full in the same week a year ago, SSB said.
Swedish reservoirs fell 2.5 percentage point to an average of 43.9 percent full last week,
Nordic power bourse Nord Pool said.
Sweden's reservoirs averaged 37.9 percent full in the same week last year, the exchange said.
Hydropower accounts for more than half of all electricity consumed in the region.

Wednesday, 14 January 2004 12:00:28RTRS [nL14649277] {C}ENDS

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08:58 14Jan2004 Swiss water levels off 13 points yr/yr at 54.5 pct

FRANKFURT, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Swiss water reservoir levels dropped 3.1 percentage points to an
average 54.5 percent of total capacity last week, 13 percentage points below those in the same 2003
week, Swiss state energy authority BFE said on Wednesday.
Reservoir levels in the week ended Dec 12 fell to 4,656 gigawatt hours (GWh), data from BFE
showed.
BFE logs each given week on the following Monday and publishes the details a few days later.
Its data give evidence of the status of Alpine pumped storage reservoirs, where managers have
had to grapple with an unusually dry four-months period.
Traders in the regional wholesale power markets say a wet winter with heavy snowfall is needed
to boost water supplies for power generators in the hydro-reliant country.
Pumped storage facilities and river-based plants in Switzerland produce more than half of all
electricity, which in wet years is enough to help supply neighbouring countries, analysts say.
In dry years, Switzerland can turn into a net importer, which can contribute to tight
pan-European power supply if winters are extremely cold and demand high.

Wednesday, 14 January 2004 08:58:15RTRS [nL14209624] {C}ENDS