Statkraft has decided to build the Blåfjell Pump, which will channel more water directly into Blåsjø, Norway’s largest hydropower reservoir. This will increase production in the Ulla-Førre power plants by 54 GWh. Four local and regional suppliers have been awarded contracts worth a total of NOK 250 million.
Thee four construction contracts have been awarded to contractors from Karmøy, Suldal, Voss and Grenland. Work on the pumping facility starts already this week.
Norway’s battery
Blåsjø is Norway’s largest “hydropower battery”, where water can be stored for several years to balance out weather-related variations between dry and wet years. The reservoir stretches across Ryfylke and Setesdal and is Norway’s largest reservoir in terms of stored energy.
In Hjelmeland municipality, just west of Blåsjø, there are three smaller lakes whose water currently flows down to Stølsdal power plant at a lower level in the Ulla-Førre system. Due to flood losses and constraints in this watercourse, the water can be used much more efficiently by instead being lifted around 60 metres up into the Blåsjø reservoir. The measure will increase electricity production in the NO2 price area by 54 GWh, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around 2,700 Norwegian households.
“Finally, after many years of planning and adjustments, we have found a profitable way to carry out the project. Getting more water into Blåsjø is perhaps one of the most valuable things we can do for society, because the reservoir can store the water for several years and we increase generation in existing hydropower plants. In this way, significantly more energy can be generated from an already developed system, with limited additional impact on nature,” says Executive Vice President for Development in Statkraft, Pål Otto Eide.
Statkraft recently announced that the company plans to invest NOK 70 billion in Norwegian hydropower over the next ten years, and the Blåfjell Pump project is part of this strategy.
“The Blåfjell Pump is one of many projects Statkraft is carrying out to help build and strengthen Norway. In total, our investments in the coming years represent one of the largest industrial boosts in the country,” says Eide.
Work starts now
The project includes a transfer tunnel, a pumping station inside the mountain, as well as several smaller transfer structures. The work will have a total cost of approximately NOK 300 million and starts this week, aiming to commission the pump by December 2027.
At the same time as the pumping facility is being built, Statkraft will also carry out improvements required by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) on four dams at the western end of Blåsjø. The plan is to complete all work during 2028.
Local ripple effects
For this project, Statkraft has chosen a contract strategy that has enabled participation from national, regional and local contractors alike. Among other things, the construction work has been split into four different contracts.
“It has been important for us to facilitate a form of competition where contractors can do what they do best, and where the contractors we also need in our day-to-day operations are able to take part in the bidding. We have noticed that there is less activity in the construction market, and competition for the contracts has been strong,” says Tor Oxhovd Svalesen, who has led the development of the project.
