– All turbines and generators lose weight over time. This means that the efficiency becomes worse due to age and wear. This is explained by senior engineer Fredrik Arnesen in the Norwegian Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE). A recent report concludes that Norway must increase power production by 50 percent by 2030, in order to meet demand. It is likely that only around five percent of this can be collected by upgrading the hydropower plants. Water vs. wind Optimistic calculations from the same directorate show that power production can be increased up to 4.4 TWh by replacing the impeller in older power plants. For comparison, we get around 15 TWh from wind turbines, which are in operation today. 4.4 TWh roughly corresponds to the consumption of a city the size of Bergen. In total, we used around 125 TWh in Norway in 2021. – Reinvestments can both extend the lifetime and improve the efficiency of the power plants. But this will only give a little more power production, according to Arnesen. But upgrading the hydropower plants will cost. Perhaps over NOK 100 billion. The work to upgrade the historic Høgefoss Power Station in Nissedal will cost NOK 120 million. Photo: Leif Dalen / news Upgrading 100-year-old At the hundred-year-old Høgefoss Power Plant in Nissedal municipality, work is being done to extract even more energy to exploit its potential. The price tag: NOK 120 million. Project manager Inge Lines in Å Energi shows off large halls and a red generator from 1936, which will soon be relieved. – There were originally five such machines here. Now we have demolished four, and kept this one to take care of history, says Lines. Inside the power plant, a ten meter deep hole has been made ready. Here, a new and more efficient generator will soon be hoisted into place. In addition, a 300 meter long and more efficient tube street will be built. – The upgrade will increase power production here by 20 GWh. This amounts to extra electricity for approximately 1,300 homes. Project manager Inge Lines in Å Energi. Photo: Leif Dalen / news Uncertain price tag Høgefoss is just one of many older power plants that will soon be upgraded. – There are approximately 100 “ready-to-use” projects in Norway, says Jon Rolf Næss, head of the National Association of Vasskraftkommunar (LVK). He represents the powerful owners of the power plants, Norwegian municipalities and county municipalities. Næss says that there are various types of upgrades and new solutions. In Agder, it will be possible to extract 1 TWh by using so-called pumping power. This means that electricity is used to pump water back into the reservoirs. – This will be valuable production that will be used when the electricity price is high, says Næss. But the price tag for upgrading the current hydropower plant is uncertain. The government calculated in the Energy Report in 2016 the sum to approx. NOK 50 billion. Næss believes it is even higher: – We are talking about large sums, probably over 100 billion. Project manager Inge Lines shows off the older generator at Høgefoss power plant. Soon there will be a new one which will increase the capacity to the equivalent of 1,300 homes. Photo: Leif Dalen / news – Won’t make money Despite large investments. There is therefore relatively little energy to be gained from this. – It does not provide such large quantities of energy that it will suffice in relation to the reported increase in demand, says Toini Løvseth, director of Production, market and restructuring at the industry organisation, Fornybar Norge. – Much of the potential lies in increasing the effect. In other words, the facility’s ability to produce a lot in a short time. Rather than increasing energy production particularly much. She emphasizes that such power upgrades are very important for security of supply. Photo: Leif Dalen / news Little wind power in the short term In addition to upgrading many older power plants, enormous sums will also be spent to upgrade the line network. This is severely undersized, and the price tag could be up to 180 billion. But these are investments that lie further in the future. Neither that nor additional hydropower will solve the power deficit for almost a decade. That is why many people point to wind turbines. But even these cannot solve the problem in the short term. INVE’s long-term power market analysis from 2021 indicates that little new wind power will be built until 2030. – An important reason for this is that it takes time, both to develop projects and to process them for licences, says Fredrik Arnesen in the directorate. You and I have to pay The investments in a number of the 1,739 power plants in Norway will initially be paid through income from the sale of power. But in the end, it may be the consumers who have to foot the bill. – In the end, it is all of us, business and industry, who have to pay. That’s how it’s always been, says Næss. Whether that means that the electricity bill increases depends on what kind of dividend the owners demand. And how the taxation of the industry will be, says Jon Rolf Næss, who represents the owner municipalities. Høgefoss power station in Nissedal is in the process of being upgraded for NOK 120 million. It will provide additional power for approx. 1,300 homes. Leif Dalen
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Norwegian hydropower plants must be upgraded for billions – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
