Norway 's state-owned electricity grid operator Statnett Thursday said the country's main grid would require between 50 billion-70 billion Norwegian kroner ($8.7 billion-$12.2 billion) of investment over the next decade to meet higher electricity production, reduce price disparities between regions, ensure security of supply and improve export capacity.

The company, which operates Norway 's high-voltage central grid, had previously estimated investment at between NOK40 billion and NOK60 billion.

The higher investment forecast was due to the addition of new projects, the expansion of project plans, more expensive commodities such as steel and cost increases due to capacity constraints in construction, the company said in a presentation.

"We have ongoing newbuilds covering a distance of about 500 kilometers, and expect this to at least double during the coming year," Statnett director Gunnar G. Lovas said in a statement.

One important new connection being built is from Ofoten to Hammerfest in the north of Norway , in order to supply Eni Spa's (E) Barents Sea oil field Goliat, which will use up to 40 megawatts of electricity from the mainland.

The northern connection is estimated to cost of up to NOK12 billion, and was originally planned to be ready by 2018, but this may be delayed to 2019, Statnett said.

The exchange of electricity between southern Norway and the middle and northern part of the country has been weak, leading to huge price spreads, but the exchange will improve significantly with the Orskog-Sogndal connection, ready in 2015 at an estimated cost of up to NOK5.6 billion, the company said.

Another connection, estimated to cost up to NOK6 billion, is planned in mid-Norway to allow for the transport of electricity from planned new wind power plants on the Fosen peninsula to the Nordic electricity market.

The massive investments in the electricity grid will be covered by Norwegian consumers through a fee added to their electricity bill.

The plan would enable Norway 's main grid to handle 14-16 terawatt hours of new renewable energy production by 2020, Statnett said. Norway produces more than 120 terawatt hours of electricity in a normal year, mainly hydro power.

Statnett also plans new electricity export cables from Norway to Denmark , the U.K. and Germany . A cable to Germany could be operational in 2018, and a U.K. cable in 2020, Statnett said, estimating the cost of each cable to be between NOK6 billion and NOK8 billion.

The cost estimate is preliminary because as much as 83% of its planned grid investments haven't yet been approved by the government, the company said

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