Norway's national power grid operator Statnett said on Monday it will refrain from charging consumption tariffs from April until the end of the year, reflecting soaring income in recent months from record high electricity prices.

The change will reduce grid fees for consumers and companies this year by an estimated 4 billion Norwegian crowns ($447 million) when compared to an unchanged tariff level, Statnett added.

The Norwegian government, under pressure to soften the blow to consumers from Europe's high power prices, has introduced subsidies to alleviate the situation but still faces opposition calls to do more.

Statnett, which is fully owned by the government, earns a significant part of its income from so-called bottleneck fees reflecting differences in prices when power is transmitted between regions or countries.

"Even though we have had high prices in Norway recently, trade with other countries has yielded large revenues from both imports and exports of power," Statnett Chief Executive Hilde Tonne said in a statement.

"High bottleneck fees will keep the tariff lower than expected in the coming years," she added.

While Statnett provides the main national power infrastructure, consumers and most companies will still be billed for a grid fee from their local supplier however.

($1 = 8.9540 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Victoria Klesty, editing by Terje Solsvik)