In several cases, news has told about the damage hydropower causes to the fish in the rivers. Turbines that make renewable energy from the water, and mince food from the fish. Rivers that suddenly empty of water, so the fish get stranded and die. – There is no doubt that the fish are suffering, says section manager Torunn Knævelsrud in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. The inspectorate states that this happens in hydroelectric rivers all over the country. Surna in Møre og Romsdal, 2021: Stranded juvenile salmon Photo: Surna elveeierlag Daleelva in Vestland, 2018: Stranded salmon Photo: Tore Wiers / NORCE Figgjoelva in Rogaland, 2014: Turbine-clad juvenile salmon Photo: Tore Wiers / Norce Storelva in Agder, 2013: Turbine-clad eel Photo: Frode Kroglund / NIVA The Norwegian Food Safety Authority must prevent and detect violations of the Animal Welfare Act. – There is also no doubt that the Animal Welfare Act applies to all animals, including wild fish, says Knævelsrud. But that does not mean that the fish’s suffering will always be illegal. The law allows animals to suffer if necessary. In other words: the social benefit of hydropower can outweigh the suffering for the fish. Has warned for years It was angler Tore Solbakken who contacted the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, following news’s cases about the hydropower damage. But by then he had already been warning for years. He was only 15 years old when he first witnessed the mass stranding of fish in the river where he stood. – It was despairing. I only managed to save a few, says Solbakken. Since then he has fought for the fish in the hydroelectric rivers. This year he became world famous, when he had a dam blown away from a decommissioned power plant in the river Tromsa in Innlandet. Fishing luck: “Fish swim freely for 1st time in 106 years”, reported Canadian CBC Radio Online from Norway, on 17 January this year. Photo: Private – But isn’t sport fishing also unnecessary suffering for the fish? – Sports fishing is strictly regulated. The Animal Welfare Act applies to us. This is how it should be, and this is how it should also be for hydropower, says Solbakken. Developer’s responsibility The Animal Welfare Act requires developers and owners of power plants to do what is possible to protect the fish, within reasonable limits, according to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. – Only the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has the authority to decide whether the fish suffer unnecessarily, so that the Animal Welfare Act has been broken, says section manager Torunn Knævelsrud. – But can owners and builders be punished for this, when the energy authority has given permission for the power plant? – I do not know. As far as I know, it has never been tried in court, says Knævelsrud. – Thorough process – We build power plants after they have gone through a thorough process with the authorities, where advantages and disadvantages are weighed against each other and permission is granted, says Øystein Grundt in the Småkraftforeninga. – It is not acceptable that large quantities of fish go into the turbines, says Eivind Heløe, director of renewables and the environment at the industry organization Energi Norge. Both turbine death and stranding are problems that can be solved, and more and more power plants are using these, says Heløe. Read the full response from the hydropower industry at the bottom of the case. Fish massacre for 14 years In the Storelva below the Fosstveit power plant in Agder, they have been picking up maltreated fish carcasses for 14 years. – We are talking about several hundred kilos, says Werner Grov of the river owners’ association. 2021: Werner Grov finds a dead eel in the Storelva in Agder. He has done that for 14 years Photo: Christine Fagerbakke / Christine Fagerbakke 2009: The power plant has taken the lives of large numbers of endangered eels since its inception Photo: Jim Güttrup / Privat Researchers have shown that the eel can live for several hours after the head has been separated from the body Photo: Werner Grov / Privat Norway’s Water and Energy Authority has not been able to intervene, because the power plant has a license exemption. But now the fish massacre must end. After news wrote about the case, new owners have taken over. Småkraft AS promises to rebuild the power plant, so the fish get through alive. The work should be finished in the autumn of 2023. In the meantime, a temporary grate has been placed in front of the turbine to save the fish, says managing director Terje Vedeler. The suffering can be avoided All turbines can be death traps for fish. But professionals have developed solutions. One such has been put into use at the Palmafossen power plant in Voss. Here, the fish is led along a grate, outside the razor-sharp rotating steel blades. Not the smallest fish escapes through the grate. There are only 12 mm between the grooves. Photo: Voss Energi/NORCE/Mohn Technology Safe migration of fish was a requirement from the energy authority when the power plant at Palmafossen received a license in 2015. The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Agency (NVE) does not have an overview of how many other of Norway’s 1,700 hydropower plants they have imposed such requirements. When the water disappears The water level in Norwegian rivers fluctuates more and more rapidly, in line with more unstable electricity prices. The power plants create electricity when the price is high. When the price falls, they slow down to a minimum and the water disappears. If it goes too fast, the fish will not be able to get away. It runs aground and dies, or becomes bird food. news placed a camera in Daleelva in Vestland this summer, to see what happens. 2 June 2022: In 14 minutes, the water level in Daleelva falls by 13.5 centimeters Jojo driving is allowed, and it is widespread, shows a new study from Ntnu. It is possible to limit it. But NVE does not know how many power plants they have imposed such restrictions on. Is the suffering necessary? – We note that there are solutions to prevent fish dying from stranding, or being crushed in turbines, says section manager Torunn Knævelsrud in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. – These are solutions that simultaneously enable power production. Then there is reason to ask whether the suffering the fish is subjected to is necessary, she says. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority must be consulted before hydropower permits are granted or renewed, Knævelsrud believes. That doesn’t always happen today. The authority has asked NVE for a meeting to discuss this. – We think that makes sense, says section manager at NVE, Carsten Stig Jensen. – Uniform administration is desirable to avoid conflicting decisions and orders from different public bodies. Read the full response from NVE below: Comment from Energi Norge – Norwegian hydropower provides clean and stable renewable energy, which is what we need to limit climate change. The alternative is fossil energy, which does not benefit the fish either. – It is not acceptable for large quantities of fish to enter the turbines. The hydropower sector has therefore long been engaged in various research projects to reduce the risk of fish deaths. This applies both to the design and operation of the turbines and to various solutions that guide the fish past the power plant. The results from the R&D project FishPath are promising. New solutions and new technology have been used in the rehabilitation and rebuilding of several power plants, and it is important that this is also done in future rehabilitations. – Stranding of fish as a result of rapid water level changes is a problem that can be limited through physical measures in the river or by changing maneuvering. New knowledge is used as a basis when new maneuvering regulations are drawn up in connection with condition revisions and other licensing processes, while physical adaptation of the river bed can both improve the habitat and reduce the risk of stranding. We are concerned that the power companies have a good dialogue with the environmental and waterway authorities and local stakeholders so that effective measures can be taken to limit the extent of strandings. – Power consumption varies a lot from hour to hour. Electricity for the electric car and the washing machine must be produced at the same time as it is to be used. Therefore, the flow of water through a hydroelectric power plant varies and the water level in the river fluctuates accordingly. Comment from Småkraftforeninga We build power plants after they have gone through a thorough process with the authorities, where advantages and disadvantages are weighed against each other before a permit is eventually granted. Many power plant applications have been turned down over the years, among other things for reasons of important fish stocks, preferably anadromous and catadromous fish and large trout stocks. Where permission is granted for a power plant, it is accompanied by a set of conditions with specific requirements for how a power plant must be built and operated. Our industry naturally adapts to the requirements that are set, including requirements to ensure fishing migrations where such conditions are set. Småkrafta is an innovative industry that has developed solutions that improve the environment. Among other things, coandarists that guide fish safely past intakes, and improved solutions for bypass valves that kick in during sudden outages in power plants so that fish below do not become stranded and die. Small-scale power plants have, to a small extent, storage at the rear, so that power operation with rapid ups and downs to meet price variations is to a small extent a relevant issue for us. Small-scale power plants are essentially high-pressure plants where the small fish that enter the intake die instantly when they pass the turbine blades. The Fosstveit power plant, which received permission from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy in the 1990s, is an isolated example that is not at all representative of today’s modern small power plants. We at Småkraftforeninga are pleased that Småkraft AS is now rebuilding the intake so that this becomes a high-standard power plant where safe and good migration of fish up and down is ensured. Comment from NVE NVE has previously had a meeting with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority on the topic of fish welfare, the Animal Welfare Act and license processing and power plants. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority will continue to be an important consultation party for NVE in cases where it is relevant. This also includes small power. We note that there still seem to be certain ambiguities in the application of animal protection legislation to hydropower cases. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has notified the need for further meetings with NVE to clarify this. We think this is reasonable. Uniform administration is desirable to avoid conflicting decisions and orders from different public bodies. NVE is also working actively to increase the knowledge base on up and down migration solutions for fish in regulated waterways in order to reduce the negative consequences. NVE participates in a number of projects with the aim of finding good technical solutions to prevent fish ending up in the turbine, including Hydrocen and Fish Path. There is also a lot of research going on internationally with a focus on walking solutions, and there are several publications that describe the current model practice for this. 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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Fish suffering from hydropower can be an offence, says the Norwegian Food Safety Authority – news – Klima
