Metrics details To limit energy consumption and peak loads with increased electrification of our society more information is needed about the energy use in buildings This article presents a data set that contains 4 years (Jan 2022) of hourly measurements of energy and weather data from 45 public buildings located in Drammen the data set contains contextual data about the buildings including their floor area information about their heating system and ventilation system in addition to time series data of energy use and weather data the energy measurements only contain measurements of hourly imported electricity while the time series data for other buildings have submeters for different energy services and technologies building owners and policy makers can benefit from the dataset for e.g forecasting of energy loads and flexibility and peak loads for typical building categories in Norway the COFACTOR Drammen dataset provides value for several reasons It is an open data set with hourly energy measurements from different service buildings and no other available data sets like this exist for Norway the COFACTOR Drammen dataset captures data continuously capturing the effects of the weather and user behaviour on the energy use The measurements for each building contain both imported electricity and district heating outdoor climate and for several buildings – sub meters for different heating appliances and other appliances The COFACTOR Drammen dataset has been slightly cleaned of false 0 values and outliers ensuring uniform and comparable dataset that can be directly used by various researchers with minor alterations data sets that only provide raw data require researchers to individually handle data cleaning this discrepancy hampers the reproducibility and comparison when the data set is later used in research Figure 1 gives a schematic overview of how data was collected and treated to create the files in the COFACTOR Drammen data set. The following chapters describe how the data set was collected and treated in more detail, how the data is structured and how it can be used for research and analysis. Setting initial criteria and selecting buildings for dataset: In cooperation with Drammen Eiendom, a set of buildings in their building portfolio were selected to be included in this data set. Buildings in the categories school, kindergarten, nursing homes and offices were included in the data set, while buildings in less uniform categories, such as sports facilities, parking lots and ambiguous buildings, were not included. Visual examination and labelling of meters: All meters were visually inspected to ensure sufficient data quality and that the meters had actual measurements. The meters where then assigned to a meter label according to the purpose/appliance they served. Collection of contextual building data: Contextual data about the buildings were collected by going through documentation about the buildings and technical systems as well as through conversations with Drammen Municipality. Downloading dataset and weather data: Meters connected to a label were downloaded from the energy surveillance system used by Drammen municipality (Energinet) with hourly resolution. Weather data was acquired for the different building locations. The energy data and weather data were combined to time series data for each building. Cleaning of energy meter data: The energy data was cleaned of repeating zero values and outliers. Creation of building files: A csv file containing both contextual building data and cleaned time series data was created for every building in the data set. Each file has the same format and time stamp format. A schematic overview of workflow on data collection in the COFACTOR Drammen Data set The data set consists of 45 public buildings located in Drammen Norway The buildings are classified as schools (16) The dataset consists of contextual building data and energy and weather time series per building The time series data have a duration of approximately 4 years (01.01.2018 – 31.12.21/18.03.22) with hourly resolution A short description of all buildings available in the dataset is given in Table 1 A summary of all contextual data parameters for the buildings, and the explanations/abbreviations for the contextual data is given in Table 2. Abbreviations for heating sources are given in Table 3 a description of the contextual data parameters and the format/available answers for each parameter To be able to compare measurements of energy purposes from different buildings, building meters have been assigned to predefined measurement purposes. All meter types in the time series data present in the building files are described in Table 4 9 buildings within the desired categories were also discarded due to data quality reasons or inability to retrieve required contextual building data raw data was collected for 45 buildings from Drammen while others may have alternative structures with varying levels of coherence in naming conventions To compare energy measurements across different buildings these measurements need to be categorized into predefined purposes There are various methods to aggregate measurements for different purposes but this process inevitably leads to some loss of information Given that all potential use cases for the data may not be initially apparent during collection it is preferable to maintain as much disaggregation as possible while adhering to standardized purposes The process of labelling each meter for every building in Energinet was a manual process which required to go into every single meter and check the quality of the data In many cases there would be meters available for different purposes but there would be data missing for large periods of time In these cases the meters were not included in the final datasets Some meters were disregarded due to uncertainty of double counting in the installed meters weather data and total imported electricity (ElImp) are included while the number and types of submeters varies between the buildings The cleaning process for the dataset involved several steps to ensure data consistency and accuracy: The raw data from each meter was checked against the standard unit of measurement specified in the table If the unit in the raw data differed from the standard unit it was converted to the desired unit to maintain consistency across all measurements If any meter had more than a predefined number the entire day of measurements was removed This step helps in maintaining data integrity and ensures that incomplete or unreliable data does not skew the analysis Values that exceeded a certain outlier threshold were identified and removed from the dataset The threshold for outliers was manually set for each meter based on the specific characteristics of the data Any values surpassing this threshold were replaced with empty cells to indicate missing or invalid data points Any negative values were replaced with empty cells to eliminate inconsistencies and errors resulting from incorrect readings or recording anomalies the dataset was cleaned to remove inconsistencies thereby preparing it for further analysis and interpretation The post code of the buildings were used when downloading the weather data for the exact location but has not been included in the dataset due to anonymization of the buildings Table 5 shows the collected weather data with the name in the dataset and the corresponding name in the MET Nordic dataset Screenshot of the file for one of the buildings The file contains contextual data about the building and time series data for the building’s energy use and weather at the building site during the same time period The TimeStamp is in the time zone Etc/Gmt-1 and given on the format “%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z” The time 2018-01-01T00:00:00 means the hour 00:00-01:00) The actual local time zone of the location is “Europe/Oslo” The time series have one row per hour of measurements The time series data contain both the weather data (Tout The quality of the energy time series is e.g. related to the accuracy of the energy meters. Table 6 evaluates the reliability of the meters for electricity and heating Data from main meters (AMS-meters) and district heating meters (where available) are generally considered trustworthy due to their high precision and reliability These meters are typically installed to meet strict industry regulations ensuring accurate measurements of energy consumption or production for billing of costumers may require additional evaluation before being used in further research or analysis The reliability of sub-meter measurements can vary it is essential to assess the quality of data from sub-meters on a case-by-case basis certain periods of measurements from sub-meters may need to be discarded if they are deemed unreliable or if there are indications of measurement errors The same considerations should be made when downsampling the data as periods of missing data could affect the outcome a school building with ground source heat pump the submeters still contain valuable information If this data is to be used in for example training of disaggregation algorithms or other machine learning problems it may be beneficial to extract only the periods from the dataset where measurements are available for all meters Supplementary Table 1 provides a detailed overview of the energy meters included in each building file It includes the proportion of the time series during which each meter contains data and the sum of values for all columns representing energy consumption it presents results for an artificial meter which calculates the hourly difference between the imported electricity (“ElImp”) and the total electricity consumption recorded by the sub-meters If the photovoltaic electricity generation (“ElPV”) is present it is added to the imported electricity in the calculation The purpose of “ElRest” is to show the share of total electricity consumption that is not captured by the sub-meters there are instances where “ElRest” contains negative values These anomalies may result from missing data in the main meter or overlapping measurements across sub-meters in buildings with several sub-meters Users are advised to use caution when analysing the buildings and meter readings where this occurs The law sets requirements for the competence of professionals who label buildings but as an energy label is valid for 10 years there may have been changes in the building information not mentioned in the energy labels the building contextual information from the various sources was reviewed and updated through discussions with Drammen Municipality The dataset includes electricity main meter readings (AMS) for nearly four full years across all buildings making it possible to create and analyse load profiles for the buildings and building categories These profiles show how different building categories and construction years affect annual and daily energy consumption patterns and how they are affected by the outdoor temperature and seasonality we can better understand how energy use varies by building type and season Load profiles for different building categories can be useful for grid and area planning and provide insights into peak load times which can aid in better forecasting and planning for energy needs Some of the building files include sub-metered data for various energy purposes and appliances This data provides valuable insights into how different energy uses contribute to the peak loads of buildings and helps assess the demand response flexibility of individual loads also known as non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) is the process of breaking down a building’s total electricity consumption into its component loads such as individual appliances or energy purposes It is a cost-effective alternative to installing sub-meters in buildings where the electricity for different components are estimated from a single point of measurement Load disaggregation typically relies on data-driven methods which require training data from buildings with sub-meters This dataset contain energy use measurements for several sub-meters including 14 buildings with separate meters for electric boiler (ElBoil) but also several other sub-meters from different buildings The dataset can be used for training classification models to infer other contextual building attributes as well The 45 buildings are located within the old geographical Drammen municipality The building managers in Drammen Municipality have over a long period been working on energy use monitoring quality assurance and documentation of their buildings’ energy systems The selected buildings represent a range of building types offering diverse energy time series data within the different building categories while the dataset reflects variations between different non-residential buildings in Norway caution should be taken when generalizing the findings to the broader Norwegian building stock as these buildings are all from the same geographical area are operated by the same building managers and have been monitored more closely than other buildings in other parts of the country The buildings in the dataset may not capture the full range of variations of buildings within the chosen building categories in Norway The exclusion of certain buildings due to data quality issues could impact the generalizability of the dataset as those excluded buildings may have different characteristics that are not represented in the final dataset the dataset provides useful insights into energy use patterns for schools offices and kindergartens in southern-Norway users should be mindful of potential bias in the variability of the data While obvious false zeros and outliers have been removed there are no control meters to verify errors in the individual meters not all remaining data points can be fully validated All buildings have main meter data (ElImp) which is considered to be of high quality for the majority of the time series duration These meters can be used for a variety of purposes the user should be cautious about which buildings No custom code has been generated or is available for this data Making Mission Possible: Delivering a Net-Zero Economy - ETC. Energy Transitions Commission https://www.energy-transitions.org/publications/making-mission-possible/ (2020) 11561: Energibalanse. Tilgang og anvendelse av energiprodukter 1990 - 2022. Statistikkbanken. SSB https://www.ssb.no/system/ (2023) Status Og Prognoser for Kraftsystemet 2018 Rapportnr SN/TS 3032:2024 Bygningers energiytelse - Beregning av effektbehov (2024) Makonin, S., Popowich, F., Bartram, L., Gill, B. & Bajic, I. V. AMPds: A public dataset for load disaggregation and eco-feedback research. in 2013 IEEE Electrical Power & Energy Conference 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/EPEC.2013.6802949 (IEEE Smart*: An Open Data Set and Tools for Enabling Research in Sustainable Homes Kelly, J. UK Domestic Appliance Level Electricity (UK-DALE) - Disaggregated (6s) appliance power and aggregated (1s) whole house power. UK Energy Research Centre Energy Data Centre (UKERC EDC) https://doi.org/10.5286/UKERC.EDC.000001 (2015) Three years of hourly data from 3021 smart heat meters installed in Danish residential buildings A rich dataset of hourly residential electricity consumption data and survey answers from the iFlex dynamic pricing experiment The Building Data Genome Directory – An open comprehensive data sharing platform for building performance research The gap between predicted and measured energy performance of buildings: A framework for investigation Forskrift Om Energimerking Av Bygninger Og Energivurdering Av Varme- Og Klimaanlegg Lien, S. K., Walnum, H. T. & Sørensen, Å. L. COFACTOR Drammen dataset. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11060088 (2025) Automatic standard building category classification from smart meter data – A supervised learning approach Forskrift om energimerking av bygninger og energivurdering av varme- og klimaanlegg Download references This article has been written within the research project “Coincidence factors and peak load of building in the Norwegian low carbon society” (COFACTOR) The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the Research Council of Norway (project number 326891) Contributions from the data providers Drammen Municipality are highly appreciated especially the contributions and help from Geir Andersen and Rune Simensen in Drammen Eiendom KF Harald Taxt Walnum & Åse Lekang Sørensen Norwegian University of Science and Technology Synne Krekling Lien: Manual control and collection of raw data Harald Taxt Walnum: Manual control and collection of raw data We declare that there are no competing interests associated with this manuscript or professional relationships that could be perceived as potential conflicts of interest Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04708-3 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science Nedre Eiker and Svelvik – combined to become the New Drammen Municipality “The merger provided a great opportunity for us to rethink our approach to sustainability and really plan how to set up the right pathways and business models to provide long term value,” says Ingebjørg Weselka Tofte Drammen’s climate work focuses on four pillars – mobility and a circular economy – and Zero Emission 2030 addresses these across the new municipality The project provides funding to a broad spectrum of local activities that drive circularity and green growth by leveraging technology and strategic collaboration they form a mosaic of green initiatives that support the city’s efforts to reach net-zero emissions by the end of this decade Part of the Zero Emission 2030 funding is being used to increase the uptake of renewable energy this creates new opportunities for collaboration between solar the project also aims to establish a marketplace for reused construction materials The city is developing a physical and digital solution by combining a reuse centre with an online marketplace This approach will allow the construction sector to register resources in the marketplace facilitate direct sales through the digital platform and provide storage solutions for future reuse Securing funding to fully set up the marketplace remains a major challenge as it will require financing beyond the two-year duration of the Pilot Cities Programme “The system isn’t fully there yet but we have managed to secure enough funds to establish a small pilot to test the digital and physical marketplaces We will continue to work on this to ensure continuity of our work,” says Tofte the project has already sparked unexpected successes like the reuse-focused community space that was initially financed through the project but continued with independent funding but it shows what’s possible when we start something and then let others take ownership,” says Tofte Shifting focus to another element of Drammen’s mosaic of activities the city recognises that linking additional climate policies – like health through better access to nature – with sustainability is an effective way to bring climate concerns closer to people’s daily lives In collaboration with the University of Southeast Norway, they are adding technology to the mix by using virtual reality (VR) to showcase Drammen’s green spaces and inspire people to engage more with nature The initiative was called ‘Pause and Refresh’ and targets university students who often come from outside of Drammen and are less familiar with local landscape “If people see green videos of Drammen through a VR experience maybe they will start walking more to experience it firsthand,” says Tofte students were also involved in the project design The installations were placed at strategic points across campus with additional stands set up during high-stress exam periods to test their potential to decrease student anxiety through exposure to nature – even in a virtual form – and the university is now exploring with the university library and student welfare organisation how to integrate them further Tofte and her colleagues recognise that achieving long-term sustainability hinges on strengthening relationships with citizens and local partners and have dedicated funding to this effect Libraries have become hubs for reuse and repair workshops “Meeting citizens where they already gather is more effective than creating entirely new spaces,” says Tofte A successful partnership was set up with VAREhuset a local volunteer organisation that runs a centre for repair services the partnership with the city brought the centre to life and the centre aims to organise standalone workshops in the future Young people were also invited to take part in local repair workshops to learn about circular economy practices and perhaps develop sustainable habits Yet these connections are laying essential foundations for sustained behavioural shifts Drammen must maintain momentum and continue to secure funding for which national support will be critical As well as focusing on the longevity of such initiatives Tofte is aware that people locally “must see visible change so we need to ensure we continue all the work we are doing and showing them the results.”  Drammen is also building up their capacity in online climate communications to strengthen their connection to citizens. The city has dedicated website and Instagram account to share updates and resources though building momentum online has its challenges it’s hard to build something new on social media but we hope to grow this and keep it going even after the project ends,” says Tofte the city’s involvement in the Pilot Cities Programme has energised local efforts and inspired a sense of possibility “If we want to be among the European frontrunner cities in the future we must organise ourselves to secure essential funding and connect with other cities and countries,” says Tofte “When you’ve been working on climate issues for a long time it becomes both more frustrating because of all the challenges but the outcomes also become more rewarding we support local governments and communities in creating scalable solutions to tackle climate challenges By showcasing diverse approaches—from citizen engagement and innovative financing to sustainable mobility and urban heat mitigation—this campaign amplifies the stories behind the systems change we’re helping to orchestrate Sign up to our newsletter to learn more about our work Web design TWK Our promise towards a carbon-neutral future EconiQ Consulting supports customers addressing their unique environmental performance needs Meet IdentiQ™ digital twin for sustainable Service is our commitment to the world’s largest existing installed base and the future of the energy system Accelerating a clean energy transition with a range of solutions for solar Discover the people and technologies behind the multiple pathways towards a carbon-neutral future Advancing a sustainable energy future for all we are co-creating global and local solutions to benefit society Get in-depth insights on topics and trends in the energy sector from industry thought leaders in this animation series about the world of electricity and sustainable energy Diversity and inclusion are the core of our success Hitachi Energy inaugurated the expansion of its Service Center in Drammen with an increased capacity to modernize and refurbish transformers and high-voltage equipment Hitachi Energy inaugurated an expansion of its Service Center in Drammen The company’s service team in Drammen will continue to provide exemplary life-cycle services to customers with the highest quality care and service support for their equipment As one of the largest facilities of its kind in Europe this state-of-the-art center is uniquely positioned to contribute to the company’s efforts to support the rising global demand for transformers driven by renewable energy and electrification across all industries and regions This expansion is part of the recently announced $1.5 billion investment to increase transformer production and service capacity and underscores the pivotal role that the operative service life of transformers and electrical equipment play in the energy transition by fostering a proactive maintenance culture that extends the life of the assets optimizes energy efficiency and supports grid stability The expanded service center in Drammen provides a full-service offering high-quality refurbishment and repair services embodying a circular economy model that minimizes waste and maximizes resource efficiency HUB Manager for Europe in Hitachi Energy’s Transformers Business Unit emphasizes the sustainable advantages of refurbishment likening the process to giving a new lease of life to an old car Just as a skilled technician breathes new life into vintage vehicles by replacing outdated parts and enhancing performance the Drammen team applies advanced technology and expertise to ensure transformers are ready to serve for decades longer Our transformers service centers in Europe are a critical enabler of the energy transition By extending the life cycle and optimizing transformers’ performance we support our customers in advancing their sustainability journeys Every step we take aligns with our commitment to reduce environmental impact and foster a carbon-neutral Europe ensuring that sustainability remains at the core of our innovation and service excellence the Drammen facility itself exemplifies sustainable practices as it is equipped with solar panels that generate sufficient renewable energy to meet nearly all its energy needs reinforcing Hitachi Energy's holistic approach to sustainability Country Managing Director of Hitachi Energy in Norway refers to this facility as a "center of circular economy" for the industry underscoring its importance in minimizing resource consumption and promoting responsible operations within the sector Drammen Service Center is already actively engaged in key projects one example is including the life extension of twelve 38-year-old transformers that will undergo comprehensive health assessments and refurbishment This initiative emphasizes material reuse alongside digital advancements through modern control equipment and sensors The project aims to significantly reduce failures and unplanned outages ensuring that these transformers are prepared for an extra 20-30 year lifespan The expanded capabilities of the Drammen Service Center strengthen the company’s role as a trusted life-cycle partner for customers looking for secure The company has over a century of experience and expertise and its dedicated team of experts delivers exceptional service solutions that cover the entire life cycle of the grid assets ensuring resilient operations to achieve a sustainable and secure energy future Drammen: Hitachi Energy has inaugurated an expansion of its Service Center in Drammen and the service team in Drammen will continue to provide life-cycle services to customers As one of the largest such facilities in Europe the center is positioned to contribute to the company’s efforts to support the rising global demand for transformers driven by renewable energy and electrification The expansion is part of the recently announced $1.5 billion investment to increase transformer production and service capacity and underscores the important role that the operative service life of transformers and electrical equipment play in the energy transition The expanded center provides a full-service offering including refurbishment and repair services The facility is equipped with solar panels that generate enough energy to meet nearly all its energy needs “Our transformers service centers in Europe are a critical enabler of the energy transition ensuring that sustainability remains at the core of our innovation and service excellence,” Norbert Beatrix Business Unit Transformers at Hitachi Energy New electricity deal and planned gas pipeline aim to ease Syria’s energy crisis with 400 kV line and 6 million m3 of gas daily from Turkey Christian Bruch visits Baghdad to formalise agreement aimed at potentially adding 14 GW to Iraq’s energy capacity through infrastructure upgrades Xcel Energy will build a 280-km transmission line linking clean energy from southwest Minnesota to over 1 million homes across the Upper Midwest © 2013-2025 | All Rights Reserved MERIT MEDIA INT recently presented research findings at "Drammen before Maynooth University & Maynooth University logo are registered trademarks of the National University of Ireland Maynooth.Registered charity number 20037130 Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application WI passed away peacefully of natural causes at her home on Thursday the daughter of Irene and the late Gary Isaacson Jan earned a degree in nursing and as a Registered Nurse TX before she relocated back to Wisconsin and purchased the family farm in the Town of Drammen Jan continued her nursing career as the head RN at the Luther Hospital Sleep Study Clinic.  Micaela Mulheron both of Eau Claire; two grandsons Mike (Bonnie) Isaacson and Dale Isaacson; also by nieces A celebration of Jan's life will be held on Saturday 2024 from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM at the Roger Marten Community Center A private family inurnment will be held at a later date Talbot Family Funeral Home – Scenic Rivers Cremation Center assisted the family Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors Monday - Friday 9am-12pm / 2pm-6pm GMT + 1 All financial news and data tailored to specific country editions Poland scored an impressive victory when coming out on top after a jump-off against Norway to win the CSIO3* 1.45m Longines EEF Series qualifier in Drammen while Sweden finished third to round out the podium.  It was the first time Poland had won a Nations Cup competition in eight years and the result secured them a spot in the semi-finals alongside Norway Marek Waclawik and the 12-year-old bay gelding Kathmandau (Zinedine x Samurai M) were the stars of the team producing a rare double clear to secure Poland’s place in the jump-off and then recording a quick fault free round The pressure proved too much for Norway’s jump-off pair, Oda Charlotte Lyngvaer and Carabella VD Neyen Z (Carrera VDL x Lux Z) who amassed eight faults to hand victory to Poland much to the disappointment of the home fans With each round I was getting better and better I knew at least we would be second which is still a good result so there was nothing to lose and I could go for speed,” Waclawik commented.  “I’ve had Kathmandau since he was a foal and I rode his father so it’s a special day for me He wasn’t easy when he was younger as he was so hard to teach and he was so spooky but since he has grown up and he has more confidence he’s been perfect," he continued.  only his teammate Michal Tyszko on Colinero (Cola x Escudo) Norway’s Therese Søhol Henriksen and Santos Z (Spartacus TN x San Patrignano Cassini) Sweden’s Ottilia Lundgren aboard Comeonconrad (Comme Il Faut x Come On) and Ireland’s Diarmuid Howley with Absolute Du Mio (Mylord Carthago x Cylverado d'Inxent) achieved the feat.  Joining Waclawik and Tyszko on the victorious Polish team were Przemyslaw Konopacki riding the ten-year-old Pure Pasion From Second Life Z (Picasso Z x Calato) and Msciwoj Kiecon aboard the nine-year-old grey gelding Cicero (Cordess x Capitol).  © 2025 World of Showjumping - All rights reserved Powered by Artionet - Generated with IceCube2.Net This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page In Drammen today the CSIO3* 1.50m Grand Prix was ridden Commander Geoff Curran (Glengarra Wood) fell just short of a spot on the podium Click here for the results 2024 performance at the Union Scene in Drammen The show was part of the band's "Celebrating 40 Years Of Thunder" tour The Norwegian hard rockers played their first concert with returning American singer Tony Harnell on June 2 grew up in California and moved to New York when he was 16 announced his return to TNT in November 2022 saying that he would reteam with guitarist Ronni LeTekrø and drummer Morten "Diesel" Dahl on stage in 2023 and beyond for select live appearances The trio is joined in the current TNT lineup by returning bassist Sid Ringsby who played with TNT for the first time on the "All The Way To The Sun" album in 2005 and has appeared with TNT at various concerts over the years In a March 2023 interview with Scott Itter of Dr LeTekrø was asked if he and his bandmates have commenced work on new music He responded: "I'm supposed to not say anything I can't say how far we've come or anything but there's definitely a good vibe in the band And I think we all look forward to creating new stuff and also performing He continued: "It's been hard being a European band with an American singer especially for Tony; he had to travel a lot But we also had to do that to promote [the band] in the United States in the '80s and '90s It's like FOREIGNER — a British band with an American singer a Norwegian band with an American singer." TNT shared several photos from Studio Studio Nyhagen in Norway and included the following caption: "First basic tracks session for new TNT music taking place." Harnell said in an online post that he and his TNT bandmates were hoping to "get some new songs out there for you all" in 2023 Le Tekrø confirmed to the "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" that he had been in touch with Harnell about a renewed collaboration Ronni said: "I've started writing new material and I'm currently having good talks with Tony and the whole band And it's been 40 years [since TNT's formation] But we're trying to bring the band back together and hopefully make one last tour of Europe and maybe America… I think we might wanna end the TNT chapter with dignity and do one last tour." who has been in and out of TNT several times throughout its four-decade existence told "The Chuck Shute Podcast" that he didn't rule out returning to the band so he'll call me early in the morning [for a] video chat we'll be on a beach someplace when we're in our 70s Most of the things that pushed us apart — again contrary to popular belief — are business related," he continued 'Never say never' is a good way to put it [regarding a possible new TNT album] Harnell's most recent split with TNT took place in October 2017 less than a year and a half after he rejoined the group He later described his relationship with TNT in an "Unphiltered" interview as "a very long marriage they're there [in Norway] — they're across the pond really far away It's a very difficult situation to be in without having a very unified business organization We were just on two totally separate not only continents physically we were on two different continents as well." really wanted" his last collaboration with TNT to work out this was gonna be it — we were gonna stay together until I didn't feel like singing anymore," he said 'I was gonna do other things and do other projects and so forth but my goal was that TNT would be my band for at least another five years In a 2019 interview with "80's Glam Metalcast" Le Tekrø said that he was still on good terms with Harnell "We talk regularly and we're even discussing making a kind of Page/Plant album which could maybe lead into something in the future But I think me and Tony Harnell — I'm speaking not on behalf of him but on behalf of myself — we need a different playground to do more extensive hard rock with other ideas whereas TNT is more limited to a [specific] sound came out in June 2018 via Frontiers Music Srl The band's thirteenth LP was TNT's first to feature vocalist Baol Bardot Bulsara Baol is a Spanish singer whose debut with TNT happened in front of 8,000 fans in November 2017 when the band opened for German hard rock legends the SCORPIONS in Oslo Ireland was able to take the first place during the Nations Cup in CSIO in Drammen Captain Geoff Curran with Glengarra Wood and Max Wachman with Dorette they were able to be the only clear team and ride to victory Belgium took second place in the Nations Cup in Drammen In the second rounds the team was able to take second place with 8 penalties and 242.45 seconds The team consisted of Celine Schoonbroodt-De Azevedo Australia was third with 243.05 seconds and fourth place went to France More results can be found here. You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed ShareSaveCommentLifestyleTravel8 Things To Do In Drammen, NorwayByDavid Nikel Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights David Nikel is a travel writer covering cruising and Scandinavia.Follow AuthorAug 07 06:36am EDTShareSaveCommentMuch of the waterfront of Drammen is lined with walking paths and artwork Drammen is the seventh most populous municipality in Norway but most international tourists only know the city’s name because it’s the terminus of the Oslo Airport express train There’s a lot more to Drammen museum than first meets the eye While the fine art and religious history exhibits inside the former manor house hold some interest it’s the grounds of the museum where the real gems lie This area of Marienlyst was once home to many more manor houses and the well-kept grounds of the museum give an impression of what the area was once like This feeling is enhanced by the handful of historic rural buildings forming an open-air museum some of which are open to explore during the summer These historic farming buildings form part of Drammen Museum Behind the adjacent building housing the museum cafe a small Japanese garden provides the perfect spot to rest and reflect The Drammensfjord links the town with the Oslofjord and the city has grown up on both sides of the waterway several bridges link the two parts of the city while waterfront walks on both sides provide recreational opportunities for locals and visitors alike The waterfront walks and bridges are also ideal for surveying the changing face of Drammen where modern development sits alongside historic architecture which links Drammen Park with the regenerated Brygge district Located in historic waterfront factory buildings, Aass claims to be Norway’s oldest brewery that is still active The brewery does offer tours and tastings but these have to be booked in advance so your best bet is simply to discover Aass in one of Drammen’s watering holes the 210-foot-tall Bragernes church stands at the top of a long public area leading down to the fjord The brick-built Gothic church consecrated in 1871 replaced the former Bragernes church The church is only open for a few hours each day in the summer season but it’s worth timing your visit for a look inside if you can The altarpiece painting ‘Resurrection’ by Adolph Tidemand has since been copied in many Norwegian churches Drammen is home to one of Scandinavia’s largest swimming halls. Drammensbadet offers its guests nine pools a wave pool and even a weekend obstacle course means there’s plenty to keep kids busy The center is open daily and costs about $20 for an adult to enter or $28 if you also want to take advantage of the wellness area Many Norwegian cities have great viewpoints accessible by car but only in Drammen can you drive up a spiral tunnel to get there Many fine views of the Drammen valley are available from the hillsides around the city The view from Spiraltoppen across the Drammen valley is worth the drive in itself but it’s the experience of driving up the spiral tunnel that you’ll remember When stone for two new roads in the city was needed city engineer Eivind Olsen came up with the idea of ​​turning the quarry into an attraction by blasting a spiral tunnel inwards and upwards into the rock the tunnel has since been upgraded and has now become a unique tourist attraction No Norwegian city is complete without hiking trails in the surrounding countryside A summer hike along the riverbed should take about two hours but you’ll need to climb ladders and hop along rocks along the way Strømsgodset is the biggest soccer club in Drammen Strømsgodset won the Norwegian league title although the club has struggled in recent years Games are played typically every other Sunday between April and November Marienlyst Stadium holds 8,935 people and it’s usually no problem to get a ticket on match days although book online in advance to secure your preferred seats If you’re a soccer fan in town and Strømsgodset don’t have a home game take a look at the schedule of second-tier Mjøndalen play at the 4,350-capacity Consto Arena just seven miles west of central Drammen Freemuse State of Artistic Freedom Report launch at the Nobel Peace Center as well as UN special rapporteur for cultural rights Alexandra Xanthaki and head of the family and culture committee of Norway will be present when the report “The State of Artistic Freedom 2023” is presented on Kulturytring’s opening day The report reveals increasing pressure on artistic freedom of expression worldwide The independent organization Freemuse is behind the report Freemuse works for artists’ freedom of expression and monitors and documents violations of artistic freedom all over the globe The organization has advisory status vis-à-vis the UN and UNESCO has its head office in Denmark and branches in seven countries The report for 2023 focuses on important events and attacks on artistic freedom of expression in 10 countries through 2022 On the opening day of Cultural Expression 2023 the report will be handed over to Minister of Culture Anette Trettebergstuen https://www.facebook.com/UnionScene Vy Buss is ready to bring a further batch of electric buses in operation in the Norwegian town of Drammen with delivery planned for the period October – December 2020 two of the commissioned buses will be articulated models (unveiled by the manufacturer at Busworld […] that for the first time will make it out of Copenhagen Drammen already has a fully electrified bus line (the number 51) thanks to six Volvo 7900 Electric delivered at the beginning of 2019. And last year the charging infrastructures supplier Ekoenergetyka has been awarded a contract to install up to 15 inverted pantograph stations that will be able to deliver up to 300 and 450 kW The contract includes an option for further ten charging stations These infrastructures will join two top-down Panto chargers by Siemens with power of 300 kW Vy Buss (formerly Nettbuss) operates the public transport in Drammen a 70,000-inhabitants city (some 40 km south west of Oslo) on behalf of PTA Brakar Brakar and Vy Buss have agreed to buy electric buses instead of diesel buses in order to continue to take steps in the green direction The articulated vehicles will be the first electric 18m buses to go into operation for Brakar “Brakar is taking this an important step in the direction of an emissions-free public transport Public transport is one of our most important means of achieving the County Council’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Viken area from by at least 80 per cent by 2030″ county councilor for public transport in Viken county municipality “The extent of this investment is now dependent on the state financial compensation to the public transport companies following the Covid-19 outbreak we must reduce important plans for a better and greener offer in the Drammen area for the time being “The 22 buses are not as many as was planned but they do mean that our development will go in a greener and more correct direction anyway,” says Terje Sundfjord Brakar received NOK 30 million for further construction of charging infrastructure for electric buses it will be possible with more electric driving on the city lines in Drammen The new charging stations are coming in Tor’s way A project agreement has been signed with Glitre Energi Nett on power supply to the charging stations © Copyright 2012 - 2025 | Vado e Torno Edizioni | All rights reserved | P.I See our great savings products and find out if you want to save on accounts, in mutual funds or buy shares. Insure yourself, your family and your values and you’ll have one less worry if anything should happen. Find out more about pensions and what measures you can take to influence your pension. Our cards are adapted to most phases of life. Read more about the different cards, the programmes and the benefits associated with the cards. We offer a complete range of banking services through mobile banking, online banking and bank branches. Selling a home? DNB Eiendom is Norway’s leading real estate agent. Benefits and unique experiences from our partners. Become a corporate customer Establishment is free of charge. Payment, card, account and digital services. Meet the statutory requirements and give your employees the best opportunity for a secure future. Cover the statutory requirements and stay ahead if anything should happen. Everything about investments, shares, funds and currencies. Tips and advice on starting and running a business. calc(100% / 3));grid-template-rows:auto;grid-row-gap:0;grid-template-areas:'text logo link';}}.css-1rf3fpg{width:100%;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;grid-area:text;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:flex-start;justify-content:flex-start;color:var(--color-white);}© DNB 22 e-buses will be on Drammen’s roads Two of them are articulated vehicles and will be operating on line 3 line between Lierbyen school and Gulskogen The charging stations for the electric buses are now under installation The e-buses in Drammen will be charged during the daily service through pantograph stations at the end routes The charging stations are about six meters high and they only conduct electricity when the bus is charging The buses will be deployed by Vy Buss (formerly Nettbuss) which operates the public transport in Drammen Low resolution Medium resolution Original resolution Amidst the swirling influx of inspirational quotes and slogans that cycle through social media one has stood out to Alise Oken: “Every winner is a loser that never gave up.” using it as a tool to help her maintain a positive attitude through the inevitable ups and downs of a career with horses.  “Something you don’t learn overnight,” Oken said “Being a part of this sport for how long I have been it’s something you learn over years and years of losing and winning.” rebounding from a 43-fault performance in the opening round of the Nations Cup at the CSIO3* Drammen to win Sunday’s CSIO3* Grand Prix with Gelvera he’s really good at the mental side of the sport and gave me a few books to read like [those by sports psychologist] Bob Rotella and a bunch of mindset trainers,” she added but there’s also a big mental side of it So I think it’s important to also test on your mental skills if you want to stay successful at a higher level native has seen her equestrian career weave in and out of the spotlight as it evolves Bitten by the horse bug during summer camp as a little girl she went on to become a top junior hunter competitor While in college at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Oken decided she wanted to dedicate her career solely to the jumpers and she sprung into it all-in with Olympic trainers Laura Kraut and Nick Skelton She earned her pinque coat at just 23 years old when she jumped on her first Nations Cup team in Lisbon Portugal—an honor she repeated again in 2015 in Bratislava she decided to spend her months after the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida) in Europe working alongside Stal Hendrix in the Netherlands as she developed young horses she stayed mostly focused on the development side of the show jumping world with her business Hi Hopes Farm “I was at Emile Hendrix’s place for about four years doing that and bringing along young horses and learning that side of the business,” she said “I kind of took a bit of a step away from the big sport of show jumping I was riding young horses and selling them when they started jumping bigger.” Oken’s young horses of years prior matured to the grand prix level and she found herself entering higher ranked Fédération Équestre Internationale classes.  “It just takes time to develop the young ones,” Oken said and then it takes four or five years for them to be able to jump grand prix [classes] I’ve had since they were between 6 and 8 years old and it all just came together where they can all jump in now My parents are giving me the opportunity to keep them some of them and focus on jumping grand prix [classes].” a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Quality Time TN—Wunderful Vera Numero Uno) she owns through Hi Hopes Farm.  “I got her when she was 8 through the Hendrix family very green and she hadn’t jumped very much,” Oken said and you can’t rush things or over jump them and if you’re patient and develop them slowly and in the right way and she’s very alert of her surroundings,” she added it took a bit of time for her and I to mesh together and have an understanding of each other she’s been very consistent and a very good horse for me.” And with “Vera,” Oken got to dust off her pinque coat after five years to represent the U.S she won the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Uggerhalne CSIO3* (Denmark) on May 26.  Though she felt confident going into the first round she and Vera picked up 43 faults due to a miscommunication.  “It took me a couple seconds to get her back to the second jump So that’s where we had a bunch of time faults she didn’t have a rail; she jumped the course clear It was just me circling and trying to get back to No “They’re animals; they’re not machines But I’ve learned that you can’t live in the past I just tried to forget about what had happened and I know the horse has all the ability and can jump those tracks We came back in the second round and only had one down I was disappointed to get that result for our team But it’s the sport and how it goes sometimes You can’t let it affect you because there’s always another day and there’s always another round.” Oken shoved the first round out of her mind and focused ahead to the Longines EEF Series CSIO3* Drammen Grand Prix on June 4.  “I had a lot of confidence in Vera and the work we had done leading up to that,” she said It was solid; it’s a qualifier for the European Championships but I really had a lot of confidence in the mare.” That confidence proved well-founded: The pair proved their first Nations Cup round was just a blip in convincing fashion by winning the grand prix over Norway’s Marie Valdar Longem and U.S rider to win the Drammen Grand Prix since 2001 “I felt like on Sunday I had something to prove,” Oken said “You never expect it when it’s going to happen But it was really nice to have a win and finish our tour that way.” team chef d’equipe Anne Kursinski complimented their ride and their resilience after the win: “Alise’s mare had been a little difficult in the first round of the Nations Cup so they redeemed themselves and proved that they deserve to be here Alex was faster in the jump-off but had a jump down but that’s show jumping and that can happen To end up first and third with just two entries in the class today Oken was reflective about what such a victory means and how it underlines the mentality she tries to live “It’s difficult nowadays to find a really good job or find horses or whatnot “You keep persevering and pushing and looking for opportunities I think staying positive plays such a huge role in your success and not getting stuck in the past or negative thoughts staying positive and always working and never really giving up.” See complete grand prix results here, and Nations Cup results here you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse Copyright © 2025 The Chronicle of the Horse We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns Learn how to describe the purpose of the image (opens in a new tab) Leave empty if the image is purely decorative Following an invitation to compete in the CSIO3* Nations Cup in Drammen NOR the following team have been selected to represent Great Britain The competition takes place between the 5th – 9th June 2024 at the Drammen og omegn Rideklubb The Nations Cup competition takes place on Friday 7th June at 16:30 hrs local time (15:30 GMT) and the Grand Prix will take place on Sunday The Chef d’équipe for the team will be Matt Lanni For further information on the show and full results once the show is underway, visit https://www.norwaygrandprix.com/. The competition will be livestreamed on FEI.TV The GBR showjumping teams are supported by the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Programme funded by UK Sport through the National Lottery The Programme focuses on identifying talent developing potential and maximising medal-winning performances on the world stage The teams are further supported by LeMieux who supply the teams with their saddlepads and rugs The British Showjumping Association is a Limited Company registeredin England and Wales with the registration number 210797 Privacy Policy | Registered office: Meriden Business Park Site designed and managed by ideasBarn Kristine Stavås Skistad secured first place in the women’s sprint race in classic technique for Norway at the Drammen cross-country skiing World Cup took first place at the Drammen sprint race in classic technique with a total time of 3:01.25 The Norwegian cross-country skier was followed by Linn Svahn rounded out the top 5 by finishing 4th and 5th Here you can find the complete results. More information can be found HERE See below the complete program with facts and information links for the World Cup in Drammen Tuesday, March 12: Sprint Classic (More details can be found here) the World Cup ends the season with a weekend in Falun 2023/2024 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup Calendar Read More: World Cup calendar for the 2023/2024 Winter Season  BECOME A MEMBER HERE 2023·Cross-CountryJohannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Kristine Stavaas Skistad gave the home fans along the streets of Drammen something to cheer for as they won the men's and women's sprint classic at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup on Tuesday Skistad claimed the second World Cup win of her career on the snowy streets of the city in south-eastern Norway where she lives and competes for the ski club Konnerud IL She finished 1.22 seconds before Swedish world champion Jonna Sundling Norway's overall World Cup leader Tiril Udnes Weng got the last spot on the podium whose surname suitably for the occasion translates to "ski city" "(The course) is hard but now I like it." Skistad had claimed her first World Cup triumph in Les Rousses but missed out on the podium at the 2023 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica in February/March where she finished fifth in the sprint final the 24-year-old strong double-poler made no mistakes Having finished second in the quarter- and semifinal she stayed behind Sundling for the beginning of the final before shifting gears at the end making it difficult for the Swede to respond "I tried to go fast in the end and it worked out," Skistad summarised her final tactics the third place meant more than the joy of celebrating on the podium in front of the home fans the 26-year-old had struggled in the past few World Cup stops inviting overall runner-up Jessie Diggins from USA back into the competition for the crystal globe as this season's overall winner In the six competitions leading up to Tuesday's sprint Diggins had gained 350 more World Cup points than Weng who finished seventh in Sunday's inaugural 50km race where Diggins was third The Norwegian had claimed a gold and a silver at the world championships but was under pressure to start winning World Cup races again to defend her first-place in the rankings As Diggins was eliminated in the quarterfinals Weng claimed her first World Cup podium since 6 January gaining 60 points over the American superstar The score brought Weng back to a 147-point lead in the overall standings Klaebo claimed his 62nd World Cup win – his 14th this season – by a large margin The 26-year-old sprint expert let the other skiers take the front seat for parts of the first half of the race before making his trademark acceleration to go from third to first place in no time storming away from the rest of the field as the gap kept growing for every stride Klaebo could calmly cruse over the finish line celebrating one of his most convincing victories as the other skiers were left to fight for the second place Norway's Erik Valnes won that battle to claim his ninth World Cup podium 1.79 seconds after Klaebo and 0.34 second before France's Richard Jouve in third I love these types of city sprints and it's been a while since I was here last time so it's really fun to be back," said Klaebo who has not been beaten in Drammen since in 2017 I think it's pretty tough and there's a lot of action during the race We went pretty slow until the top there and I had pretty good skis as well so I tried to be good on the last quarter." Klaebo extended his lead in the men's overall rankings and is now 224 points ahead of runner-up Paal Golberg from Norway who won three gold medals at the world championships pass Golberg to take the third place in the sprint rankings The World Cup action continues with a three-day weekend in Falun starting with the men's and women's 10km individual start classic on Friday Click here for full results from the men's sprint classic, and here for full results from the women's sprint classic The office is a part of our overall plan to increase our resources and enhance the road network to keep up with the higher demand for more capacity in the market Scan Global LogisticsSyretårnet 33048 DrammenNorway Our competent team consists of 4 experienced employees with in depth knowledge of the domestic and international transports, who is eager to service you.You can always reach them by calling +47 32 80 81 00 or reach them by e-mail: drammen@scangl.com We are looking forward to developing our mutual businesses together 2650 HvidovreDenmarkTel +45 32 48 00 00 Fax +45 32 48 01 01  Scan Global Logistics covers all of your logistical needs You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience has started testing a seasonal PV storage project that uses boreholes in the ground The operators of the project are using electricity from PV modules to produce heat via a CO2 heat pump and outdoor air The heat is produced by the CO2 pump during the spring in addition to heat produced by solar thermal collectors Drammen Eiendom KF – a company owned by the municipality of Drammen Norway – has developed a project to store solar energy as heat The system can store energy provided by 150 m2 of solar thermal collectors and 1,000 m2 of PV panels in 100 boreholes in granitic gneiss rock each with a depth of approximately 50 meters “GeoTermos is expected to return around  350,000 kWh/year in the form of heat at various temperature levels during the heating season,” said Randi Kalskin Ramstad a shallow geothermal energy and hydrogeology specialist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and engineering services provider Asplan Viak The electricity provided by the PV installation produces heat by using air as a heat source for the CO2 heat pump The heat is then stored in the boreholes during the spring it is used for low-temperature heating in a number of nearby school buildings “The system performance of the energy system is quite high,” Kalskin Ramstad told pv magazine “The operation of the plant has now just started Water is used as a collector fluid in the boreholes which provides several advantages compared to glycol-based collector liquid The GeoTermos system – with energy storage and an accumulation tank – is able to provide approximately 300 kW of heat power for short periods during peak load and is regulated by the temperature levels and heat power demands which was built by local installer Solar Technology Scandinavia SAS was deployed across four different rooftops at a school The NOK 3 million ($299,000) system relies on 616 Panasonic VBHN 325 SJ47 PV modules and SolarEdge three-phase SE25K inverters The estimated cost of the entire GeoTermos project is approximately NOK 10 million “But the exact figures are not available as the project is a part of a procurement and construction contract for a new school at Fjell in Drammen,” Kalskin Ramstad said a state enterprise that finances the development of technologies that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases It is an important test installation for the ongoing RockStore research project which Asplan Viak and the NTNU are participating in along with the Norwegian Research Center (NORCE) the Sintef independent research organization and the Norwegian Energy Regulatory Authority (NVE) “We believe that the GeoTermos system will be an important piece of the green energy puzzle of the future where several renewable and volatile energy sources interact as a whole in the energy system,” Kalskin Ramstad said “To overcome the challenge with seasonal storage of enough energy from periods with excess energy to periods with high peak loads and energy and power shortage typically in the heating season in Norway.” More articles from Emiliano Bellini Please be mindful of our community standards and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value" This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. View our privacy policy. × The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this Close Last week’s vote by the Drammen City Council to only accept refugees from Ukraine has set off charges of discrimination and racism and left at least one local politician in tears Now it’s up to the regional authority to decide whether the vote has broken the law 25 percent of whom are immigrants to Norway The city was recently asked to take in 340 more refugees this year but its conservative coalition government thought that was too many City administrators recommended 250 but the government agreed to only half that and only if all the refugees come from Ukraine “We’ve taken in far too many immigrants for many years,” said Jon Helgheim of the conservative Progress Party “We have a very high portion of non-Western immigrants in Drammen we have taken in many refugees over a long period and we have a big integration problem.” Helgheim thinks it will be easier to integrate refugees from Ukraine His political opponents were clear in their criticism and even went so far as to report the city council’s decision to local police “This is racism put into the system,” an angry representative from the Center Party He claims that paragraph six of Norway’s anti-discrimination law “is clear that ethnicity can’t be used as a reason to treat people differently That’s what this is.” Another city council member from the Christian Democrats Party burst into tears claiming she felt forced into voting for the measure as part of the conservative majority coalition but that favouring one immigrant group over another was not her party’s policy Nordanger was so angry about the council’s decision that he went to the local police station and filed charges against the local government He’s already won support from others on the council that the decision treats people differently and can be considered racist who hails from a party with a history of trying to reduce immigration Now it’s also trying to limit the state’s power in setting immigration policy Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was quick to claim that local governments like the one in Drammen can’t choose which immigrants they’ll accept the majority of immigrants to Norway have come from Africa and the Middle East They usually numbered less than 20,000 a year but last year Norway settled around 65,000 Helgheim of the Progess Party denies he’s pitting refugee groups against one another “There are problems with all types of refugees but there are different problems depending on where they come from,” he told newspaper Klassekampen when trying to explain why Ukrainian refugees seem more welcome in Drammen than those from other countries He noted how Progress has long argued that refugee problems in general should be handled closest to the area of conflicts presumably so that they can more easily return home if and when hostilities cease is simply closer than the conflicts creating refugees in the Middle East and Africa “Drammen really doesn’t have capacity (for any more refuees),” Helgheim said “but we feel an extra obligation towards Ukraine There we have stretched us to take in 125 refugees from Ukraine this year.” The ultimate goal and that’s a legitimate goal.” Helgheim scoffed at Prime Minister Støre’s criticism and initial declaration that Drammen’s decision is illegal Støre later moderated his position and will leave the decision to the regional authority but he still doesn’t like it: “This is something for the state to decide which can only decide how many they refugees they can take in.” has further cut back on benefits offered to Ukraininian refugees who’ve been offered collective protection in Norway As many as 45,000 more are expected to arrive in Norway this year and one out of three already in Norway have said they want to stay NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund If you like what we are doing, please consider a donation. It is easy using PayPal, or our Norway bank account. READ MORE NewsInEnglish.no is a free and independent Oslo-based website offering news from Norway It’s run on a voluntary basis by veteran journalists keen to share insight into Norwegian politics Light sprinkles of April snow are falling on the patch of artificial grass overlooked by statues of Nordic animals on the surrounding rocks and grassy mounds you would wonder what on earth a perfect pitch was doing here on the highest edge of town a quiet neighbourhood with not much around except stylishly-painted clapboard houses dotted along the winding road and a small school.  This is Martin Odegaard’s place and spent virtually all his spare time on this piece of ground It is known as Kjappen, which translates roughly as “Quick” because of the high-speed movement shown on it. In his youth, the surface was gravel, before a few of the local parents clubbed together to fund an artificial pitch. Once Odegaard’s talent demanded attention far beyond Drammen, he ensured some of the proceeds of his sale to Real Madrid went into another renovation of it for the next generation Even the low buzz of a town with a population not much greater than the capacity of the Emirates Stadium feels distant the serenity is broken by the sound of kids spilling out of their classrooms at breaktime “He’s a great player and a great person,” Filip says I played with him when I was in kindergarten and he came back here.” With that The leap from here to the spotlight of one of the most legendary football clubs in the world in the space of a few years seems mindboggling His father recognised his potential at the age of around six Odegaard’s particular brand of close control is a product of his single-minded obsession with training — practice that began here with a dad who was a professional player and went on to be a respected coach there was no shortage of encouragement and exacting an energetic presence who was more box-to-box than the creative style his son would naturally develop He devised refined training drills and essentially taught Martin how to extract the most efficient improvement out of sessions He taught not just how to train but how to train every time with quality the former Stromsgodset striker who is their director of football today in this town a short drive west of capital city Oslo laughs as he remembers the little boy appearing around the club all the time and hanging around for someone to practice with “It was football 24 hours for him,” Flo says “He turned up with a ball and a packed lunch His father had a firm of clothes shops and worked a lot so he would deliver his son in the morning and pick him up in the evening Martin would sit there until the older boys came and he would join them “You could see his talent was better than normal — something you had never seen Flo, once of Sheffield United and the Norwegian national team, and the elder brother of former Chelsea front man Tore Andre was a team-mate of Hans Erik’s at Stromsgodset One of the photographs on the wall of his office depicts him with arms aloft in celebration Flo and Odegaard are certainly two major names in the club’s history but Flo almost grows sentimental when he reflects on young Martin’s formative years and how proud he is of the wonder he has become It is the Monday morning after the first game of the 2022 Eliteserien After Martin’s boyhood playing for Drammen Strong there was an inevitability that Odegaard would join Stromsgodset which he did when the time was right — at the age of 11 He invariably trained and played in teams two or three age groups above his own His capacity to elevate his football to an older stage came naturally.  Marthinsen is a long-time friend of the family He still sounds amazed by Odegaard’s precocious talent you play against one or two years older but he could play against adults He played for the Norwegian national team when he was 15 he was training with the Stromsgodset first team The physical difference between him and his team-mates was extraordinary Odegaard was never a particularly powerful specimen so it was remarkable to be so significantly promoted He played a match for the first team and Marthisen’s eyes light up as he proclaims he was playing regular senior football for the club’s third team in the Norwegian fifth tier He made his full Stromsgodset debut at 15 in April 2014 “For the first time when he came on in the first team the crowd was gasping whenever he was on the ball The atmosphere was unbelievable,” recalls Flo.  it was time for his first professional contract The rules in Norway preclude players under 15 from playing more than three matches per season; to Stromsgodset’s delight he was now eligible for a more prominent role.  Flo observed Odegaard’s behaviour closely when the day came to complete the paperwork at the club’s offices “He was moving around with a ball in the meeting He looked at the contract and there was one thing he was looking at: it was not money The clause he cared about was that he could train whenever he wanted There is a fitness room on the second floor and I heard some music Stromsgodset’s compact Marienlyst Stadium is in the centre of town with a picturesque view of the hills arcing over the stand behind one of the goals It holds just under 9,000 but is not usually full on match days clubs from all over Europe were calling to ask for tickets.  “That was the discussion when he was promoted to play in the first team — with the ball It was a discussion with the coaching staff whether he should play or not.” “They tried…” says Marthinsen with a raised eyebrow The kid’s team-mates looked after him on the pitch and Odegaard just pressed on Some notably brawnier players on other teams lost their composure as he demonstrated his technical supremacy at their expense.  Nilsen remembers seeing a few outbursts from frustrated members of the opposition “It wasn’t that they wanted to injure him but here was this little boy Some players lost it because of this 15-year-old boy weaving around with the ball “The captain of the Norway national team made a famously ugly tackle He was screaming in the tunnel at half-time Marthinsen chips in: “I remember Frode Kippe a man-mountain who was hard as a rock and played for Lillestrom (and Martin made a fool of him and scored twice in the first half Odegaard only played 25 times for Stromsgodset (scoring five goals For all their infatuation with the wonder boy they knew they could not stand in his way.  “He was almost growing out of the club before he played we have them in the first team and sell them out and we have a focus on that because we are a selling club But he took the steps through the club very and all the leaders of these clubs coming to our little club to watch him.”  “I took him to see some sponsors in the Norway Cup and it was madness and a teenager was at the centre of it all “For some of the other players in the team it was too much for everyone,” adds Nilsen We couldn’t handle it over a longer period It was a relief that Martin’s father had enough experience in the game to try to keep things under control The extended family are very down-to-earth and the club officials at Stromsgodset only had what was best for the player at heart.  “Hans Erik is a football man who knew the levels and that helped,” recalls Flo “They went from club to club to talk to them Everything was up to him and everyone wanted to take him — as soon as possible.”  Some tried harder than others to be persuasive the manager they met barely looked up from the paperwork he was scanning so Hans Erik grabbed his boy and said: “Let’s go.” Hans Erik got a job coaching in their youth set-up and Martin was parachuted into the reserve team with a strong spotlight around him It was not easy to settle in with his new team-mates as quite apart from adapting to a new country he had the publicity and salary of a special case hanging over his head.   There are plenty among the football community in Norway who regret that Madrid were not the best choice One of Norwegian football’s most experienced writers Knut Espen Svegaarden from newspaper Verdens Gang felt strongly that Odegaard should have chosen a club known for carefully developing youth players while giving them the chances to shine and grow at the same time He argued Ajax in the Netherlands would have been ideal, with their established Scandinavian connection and history of developing prodigies including Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Christian Eriksen with Arsene Wenger’s enthusiasm for giving chances to youngsters with their reputation of being one of Europe’s outstanding finishing schools appeared a much more nurturing yet progressive environment.  The way Odegaard’s trajectory stalled in Madrid was unusual for teen prodigies Odegaard just went from loan move to loan move for years seemingly stuck forever in development.  Marthinsen went to visit Odegaard in the Spanish capital and said the lad made him some very good tacos but he would have preferred the highlights to have been his footballing skills “It was a big mistake at Real Madrid — that’s how I see it,” Marthinsen says he was in the team of the week all the time “It says something about his character and personality he was able to rise up again after he took a step back in Madrid He probably couldn’t have coped with Martinmania when he was here if it wasn’t for that solid base and for his family background That’s also why he was able to go up again brother and sisters are all down-to-earth.” Six years of reserve-team football with Real Madrid and loans to Dutch sides Heerenveen and Vitesse Arnhem, La Liga’s Real Sociedad and lastly Arsenal never knowing what his next step was or when he was in a stable football environment It is remarkable to think he only turned 23 in December.  During that final loan to Arsenal for the second half of last season he was made captain of Norway by coach Stale Solbakken Marthinsen and Nilsen crack up laughing and quip “better than (Erling) Haaland” but there was a serious point Although they noticed that Odegaard had become more vocal than the shy teenager they had known the critics wanted him to sort out his club situation before taking on such a role where he had to care about the bigger picture.  “Enough with the loans,” observed Svegaarden last summer “We got worried about his development when we saw only loan clubs After getting to know each other during that loan spell both club and player understood that Odegaard was Arteta’s No 1 summer-window target The deal they arranged with Real Madrid delighted Arsenal.  it took time for Odegaard to fully regain his confidence and relaunch his career His form this season was tentative at the start out of the starting XI for four straight league games It was reasonable to wonder whether he might be more of a latter-era Mesut Ozil type who drifted and didn’t dominate games for all his delicacy of touch who facilitated so much attacking play with his finesse working within the team framework.  Those who know Odegaard well felt this was a key moment in his career to establish whether he could figure out how to best use his technical expression to dominate games He hit a sweet spot over the winter where he began to consistently orchestrate matches with his progressive passing He kept being chosen as Arsenal’s man of the match It was obvious he was rediscovering his mojo.  Flo has been impressed with how it has gone for Odegaard in north London: “He misses a bit physically and to go to the Premier League is the hardest in the world I was wondering if it was the right choice for him “There is something in the environment at Arsenal with the way Arteta is working with the players It is too much to say they train for themselves but it is not quite that they train as a team The environment is better for Martin at Arsenal.” Marthinsen could not be more chuffed: “He is happy He is a good character with the right focus and he loves football He is certainly a strong contender for the Arsenal captaincy which is up for grabs at the end of the season He has responded well to taking the armband recently — helping a team that had fallen to three demoralising defeats at the start of April pick themselves up and beat Chelsea and Manchester United back-to-back to relaunch their bid to secure European football next season after missing out for this one A chat with the man who made him captain of Norway just over a year ago makes a strong case for his candidacy. “On the pitch he has a great understanding for the game,” enthuses Solbakken “He knows his own position but I also think he knows what is best for the team and he can bring the messages tactics and ideas of the coach onto the field He isn’t the guy who speaks loudest or most he speaks sense and he is very concrete with good values That makes him respected on and off the pitch.  the noise around it didn’t bother me because we have a longer project with this Norwegian team Our big aim when I took over was to reach Germany 2024 (the next European Championship) Making Martin captain at this early stage was a big part of that I wanted him to learn and if you see Captain Odegaard now compared to the captain who started That is not just down to Norway or him but also Arsenal and Arteta and the way they have taken care of him.  “He has coaches who trust him in the national team and the Premier League He needed to settle down more — no more loans He needed to find his club and Arsenal are a very good club for him because they are also developing something They know they are not quite there but they are on the way with a young team; the same as Norway Martin can feel the similarities and feels he has responsibilities in both camps.  “A little problem in Norway is they have expected him to score 100 goals and make 100 assists he is more of a Luka Modric type of midfielder who has great stamina and runs a lot for the team I don’t think he will ever be a 20-goal or 25-assist-a-season player in the Premier League but he will be the player who can come up with goals and assists but always have the stability and be able to bring the tactic of the coach and the leadership he has developed to the team.  with the different centre-forward options to play around that are being promised Odegaard is very much needed to be a difference-maker in the toughest encounters Arsenal want him to help to decide as well as decorate the highest-pressure matches similar to Modric’s central role with those around him at Real Madrid.  A group of Arsenal supporters meet up to watch the games together at Bohemen Sportspub Although there is a pub called Highbury not too far away which they used to frequent the group prefer Bohemen because it is a proper football pub The gathering includes friends thrown together from Australia although they are hard-core enough that club comes before countryman.  There is a concept in Norway called nisselue which is a habit of seeing the success of their own players through rose-tinted glasses and the local TV commentary team were raving about Odegaard’s performance as one of the best he has played this season Arsenal will be hoping for even more in the critical five games ahead Bjorn Furuheim comes over to show off his Arsenal tattoos He pulls up a trouser leg to reveal the crest on his calf Furuheim spent some years as the head of the supporters’ group Arsenal Norway and was recently in London to watch a couple of first-team games and the under-23s.  He is also head of security for Stromsgodset and is watching Odegaard’s progress with special interest “When Martin was 14 and started training with the first team I tried to call someone at the club to make a recommendation from when some legends used to come to Arsenal Norway ‘You have to tell someone at the club about Martin’.”  he is thrilled that Odegaard is an Arsenal player now I heard so many people say that when he came to Arsenal can make him that good because of the way they treat him Up in the hills at Kjappen, the kids play and talk about which teams they follow in England — mostly a mixture of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal They all admire Odegaard and feel that closeness to their “super-super-class player” he goes out with some friends to train where it all began.  (Top photos: Getty Images; design: Tom Slator) Since football fandom kicked in in the 1970s, the path to football writing started as a teenager scribbling for a fanzine. After many years with the Guardian and the Observer, covering the game from grassroots to World Cup finals, Amy Lawrence joined The Athletic in 2019. Follow Amy on Twitter @amylawrence71 Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInTOWN OF DRAMMEN (WEAU) - Wisconsin’s Board of Commissioners of Public Lands approved $400,000 in financing for broadband expansion in Eau Claire County The funds will be used to help install 58 miles of fiber-optic cable to improve high-speed internet access in the Town of Drammen, located just northeast of Mondovi and south of Eau Claire according to Wisconsin Treasurer Sarah Godlewski 24-7 Telcom and Tri-County Communications will partner with the Town of Drammen for installation which will affect 278 residences and businesses In addition to the $400,000 in financing, 24-7 Telcom and Tri-County Communications were also awarded a total of $1.449 million in grants from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin’s Broadband Service Expansion Grant in March to expand broadband to the 278 locations 24-7 Telcom was awarded $709,700 in grants to serve the west side of the Town of Drammen for 116 residences and businesses Tri-County Communications received $739,400 in grants to serve 162 residences and businesses on the east side of the Town of Drammen A third grant for $105,725 was awarded to 24-7 Telcom for broadband expansion in the Town of Brunswick Network access as a result of these projects for the Town of Drammen is expected to be available as soon as late 2022 “I’m proud that we’re able to provide this funding and help the Drammen community and my home county of Eau Claire bridge the digital divide,” said Godlewski said that the area has struggled with inadequate internet service fast and dependable internet service has become quite necessary,” said Isaacson and those who use the internet regularly will benefit greatly.” Financing for the project is provided by the State Trust Fund Loan Program The Norwegian subsidiary Glasopor of Foamit Group has signed a contract of a large-scale foam glass aggregate delivery for the building of a new hospital in Drammen The contract has an order volume of 53,000 m3 foam aggregate The new hospital in Drammen will have a gross area of ​​122,000 m2 Foam glass aggregate is the lightest granular building material on the market and is made of 100 % recycled material In addition to reduced impact on the environment it's unique qualities lead to shorter transport and construction time Both its technical and sustainability properties supported the selection of foam glass aggregate for the hospital project Foam glass aggregate will be used as a lightening material for the hospital foundations Overview of new Drammen hospital area by DARK Design Group Partnera is an international business group which owns companies that promote sustainable development in the circular economy and energy industry We create shareholder value and a more sustainable future through our operations The companies we own produce services and products that meet the needs of society and respond to megatrends that change the operating environment We act as a partner for the companies we own and aim at developing their business and value in the long term When building our business group in accordance with our strategy who strives to use its capital to develop business that can promote a positive impact on society and the goals of sustainable development Partnera Corporation is listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland a glass recycling and foam glass manufacturing company forms Europe’s leading foam glass manufacturer together with its subsidiaries Foamit Group is a part of Partnera Corporation Swedish sprint talents Emma Ribom and Marcus Grate will not be able to race the World Cup in Drammen on Thursday Sweden’s Marcus Grate has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss the World Cup in Drammen on Thursday It was after starting to feel unusually tired after the World Cup weekend in Lahti that Grate decided to do a Covid rapid-test at home Grate will stay in Sweden for further testing and will miss the World Cup sprint in Drammen on Thursday.  None of the other national team racers selected for the sprint in Drammen have tested positive says Sweden’s team physician Jan Wall in a press release on Wednesday afternoon the team is monitoring all the racers closely Additionally, Emma Ribom will miss the World Cup sprint in Drammen who just posted her first World Cup podium in a sprint race last weekend has been in close proximity to Grate over the last few days.  and if she doesn’t test positive in the next couple of days she could still travel to Oslo for the 30-kilometer at the World Cup in Holmenkollen on Saturday.  Race schedule WC Drammen Thursday Race schedule WC Holmenkollen Saturday Race schedule WC Holmenkollen Sunday Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker