The sound of the river quiets down. The water drops rapidly. Behind are newly hatched salmon, stranded between the rocks. They didn’t manage to swim away. The birds come right away. There is food to be had. In one, two, three, the fry are gone. The price of electricity fluctuates increasingly rapidly in Norway. That is why the water goes up and down like a yo – yo in Norwegian rivers. The electricity price determines the power plants create electricity when the price is high. When the price falls, they slow down to a minimum. And that’s how it has to be, says power producer Eviny. – The electricity price is an expression of the power demand. It is a signal to us to adapt production, says Olav Osvoll, executive director of Eviny Fornybar. – This is how the power market works, he says. Osvoll believes that the fish in Daleelva are doing well with the voluntary measures taken by the power company to remedy the damage. One hour’s drive east of Bergen, you will find the town of DaleHøyt above Dale, 400 meters above sea level, is the StorefossdammenA water reservoir that can hold back 1 million m³ of water It pays to hold on to the water every time the price of electricity falls. When the price rises again, the water is released in pipes to the power plant below – and creates electricity In the river below the power plant, news has placed the surveillance camera. For four weeks we filmed the movements in DaleelvaVisualisation: Anders Nøkling news monitored the Daleelva at the important spawning area Holmen, from 13 May to 12 June. The footage shows that parts of the river here dried up at least 24 times in four weeks. This is completely normal, according to the power producer Eviny. – It is our task to deliver the power that is needed, from hour to hour. The authorities have considered that the advantages of this are greater than the disadvantages, says executive director Olav Osvoll. The fish run aground and die. We need air to breathe. The fish breathes in water. When the water disappears, it suffocates and dies. Norce researcher Tore Wiers has documented the wild salmon’s death struggle in Daleelva. Here the salmon strand while protecting the spawning ground and eggs, autumn 2014. Photo: Tore Wiers, Norce This video is from 2014. But Wiers has witnessed strandings several times, both before and later. He picks up the fish and moves them to a safer place in the river. But most often there is no rescuer present. Without measures to ensure a minimum flow of water, the entire spawning ground would have been left dry. – The measures help. But the problem of stranding has not been solved, says Wiers. Eviny collaborates with researchers and fishermen on measures to limit fish deaths in the salmon river. Photo: NORCE / LFI Every year, volunteers release large quantities of young fish to prevent the salmon from dying out. The picture is from 14 June 2022. Photo: Christine Fagerbakke / news This is what the Daleelva near Holmen looks like at low water level. The picture is from 9 June 2021 Photo: NORCE / LFI The faster the water disappears, the greater the danger for the fish. Therefore, Eviny has ordered herself to turn off the water in stages. But there are still fish stranding in the Daleelva. Professionals recommend that the water level here not be lowered faster than 10–13 centimeters per hour. But in Daleelva it can go much faster. This is shown by measurements Norce made for Eviny, one week in June. On 2 June, the water level drops rapidly, in line with the spot price of electricity. In two hours it sinks by 43 cm. The last 13 cm disappear in less than a quarter of an hour. Happening all over the country Daleelva is not the worst example of what the industry calls efficiency driving. It happens all over the country, and affects over 3,000 km of river. This is what it looks like when the water suddenly disappears from the salmon river Heddøla in Telemark. Photo: Notodden hunter and fish This young fish did not manage to escape in time. When the fry run aground and die, there are fewer and fewer salmon and trout in the river Photo: Notodden jeger og fisk The same thing happens in the national salmon river Surna in Møre and Romsdal. Last year, NVE proposed stricter limits for power driving, in order to save the fish. But the Government said no. Photo: Surna river owners’ association Ntnu researcher Jo Halleraker has analyzed the practice at over 400 Norwegian power plants, and documented the extent of yo-yoing. He has found several examples of over 200 water shut-offs a year, and durations of several hours. – Even quite a few cases can lead to a lot of young fish dying from stranding. This could have serious consequences for the stocks, says Halleraker. Could be animal cruelty – There is no doubt that the fish suffer when they strand, says section manager of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Torunn Knævelsrud. Daleelva near Holmen, 29 October 2018. Photo: Tore Wiers / NORCE The Norwegian Food Safety Authority must uncover and prevent violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Knævelsrud cannot say whether the incidents Norce has documented are offences. – The decisive factor is whether the suffering experienced by the fish is unnecessary. This is difficult to assess, she says. – It depends on which values are to be safeguarded by the power company, what they are allowed to do through licence, and which alternatives exist, she says. The worst thing that made good news In the Ntnu survey, one power plant stands out dramatically, with as many as 894 outages in one year. This worsening does not, however, cause demonstrable damage to fish life. The explanation is that the power plant has an outlet in the fjord – and not in the river. Therein lies hope, both for the fish and for the climate future. Because fjords and large lakes can accommodate and dampen even the roughest power driving. The good news is that as much as 60 percent of the power in Norway can be delivered in this way: From power plants with outlets outside longer rivers, which do little harm to fish. – It is unique in Europe and could become a goldmine for Norway – without the fish having to pay the price, says researcher Jo Halleraker. When electricity is needed quickly National guidelines for power driving are needed, says Halleraker. And it is urgent. Because the need for performance driving will only increase. The reason is more unstable power from the sun and wind, and more power cables to Europe. Hydropower can deliver when the wind turbines are standing, and hold back when the wind blows. This means that climate-friendly energy does not go to waste. It is also important for security of supply, new figures from Statnett show. – We have to do more of what we know works, like in Daleelva, says Norce researcher Ulrich Pulg. Although strandings still occur, the measures ensure that more salmon hatchlings survive. Norway’s environmental promises In river after river throughout the country, the rules for hydropower may now become stricter. The government has promised the EU greener hydropower, which does not choke life in the rivers. Earlier this autumn, Norway’s Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE) visited Daleelva. There are difficult choices to be made, says senior adviser Ingrid Haug. – There is consideration for Norwegian nature on the one hand, and renewable energy on the other, she says. Whether the salmon in Daleelva will get better can be decided in 2024 at the earliest. Climate or nature – do we have to choose? That is why we are writing this case: Hydropower is renewable and helps the climate. But it also damages nature. Does it have to be like that? In a series of cases, we examine the climate benefit and nature loss of Norwegian hydropower. Here are some of them: Do you have input? Contact Astri Thunold and Hannah Amanda Hansen.
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See how electricity prices drain the river – news – Klima
