European major Statkraft has submitted a licence application to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) for a new Mår power plant in Rjukan, Tinn municipality, Norway. The new facility is designed to increase power generation by over 13 % from around 1140 GWh to approximately 1300 GWh. It will be Statkraft’s largest project investment in Norway in the coming years and is part of the NOK 70 billion plan to upgrade and further develop Norwegian hydropower.
Mår power plant was commissioned in 1948 and is approaching the end of its operational lifetime. Statkraft has concluded that the best utilisation of resources would be to build a new power plant approximately 1000 m further into the mountain, and relocate the intake to the Kalhovd reservoir and the outlet to Tinnsjøen. This will increase the height of fall, and enable more electricity to be produced more quickly during periods of high demand, helping to reduce price peaks.
“Since the 1940s, Mår hydropower plant has supplied electricity to households and businesses … and has delivered power for nearly 80 years. Mår has been part of a development from a time when electricity was mainly used for lighting to a situation where it is essential in all aspects of daily life. Now, it must be upgraded,” said Pål Eitrheim, executive VP for the Nordics at Statkraft.
The existing plant enjoys favourable natural conditions for delivering increased capacity, as it draws water from a large mountain reservoir and can discharge into Tinnsjøen. The new plant is therefore planned with nearly three times the installed capacity, from 180 MW to 520 MW. The application also includes an option to increase capacity further and establish pumped storage hydropower in a potential future development phase. A pump storage facility would make it possible to pump water from Tinnsjøen to the Kalhovd reservoir, enabling electricity production when demand is highest.
The construction of a new power plant will have positive local impacts, but there will also be negative consequences. Around 40 km of new tunnels will be excavated in the mountain, generating large volumes of rock that must be transported and potentially deposited in suitable areas. Statkraft has initiated dialogue with Tinn municipality and Telemark county to explore opportunities to use these materials for beneficial community purposes, and will continue working to identify good solutions.
In May, Statkraft announced plans to invest NOK 80 billion in Norway over the next ten years. The new Mår hydropower project is one of the largest within the category of upgrading and further developing hydropower facilities. The investment framework for the new power plant is NOK 9 billion, with a potential additional NOK 5 billion for a future pumped storage facility.
