Glomfjord power plant is a hydroelectric power plant in the village of Glomfjord in Meløy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It gets its water from Nedre Navervatn lake which is located about 465 metres (1,526 ft) above sea level. The plant also house a newer 2.4-megawatt (3,200 hp) Francis generator taking water from Fykanvatn lake as well. The outlet of the plant is the Glomfjorden and then the Norwegian Sea.

Glomfjord power plant
Glomfjord power plant
Official nameGlomfjord kraftverk
CountryNorway
LocationGlomfjord
Coordinates66°47′47″N 13°59′45″E / 66.79639°N 13.99583°E / 66.79639; 13.99583
StatusOperational
Construction began1912
Opening date1920; 104 years ago (1920)
Owner(s)Statkraft
Upper reservoir
CreatesNedre Navervatn
Lower reservoir
CreatesNorwegian Sea
Power Station
Hydraulic head464 metres (1,522 ft)
Turbines1 × 20 megawatts (27,000 hp)
Pump-generators0
Pumps0
Installed capacity20 MW
Capacity factor48.5%
Annual generation85 GW·h

The plant is currently owned by Statkraft.

The power plant is located at the bottom of Glomfjord.

History

edit

The power plant was built in 1920 to a design by the architect Olaf Nordhagen. It opened with two Pelton turbines at 20 megawatts (27,000 hp) each delivering power at 25Hz. In 1922, a third one was opened. At the time these were the largest turbines in operation in Norway.

During the Second World War the Germans started expanding with three additional turbines, but in 1942 an Anglo-Norwegian raid, Operation Musketoon, attacked the German-held power plant. The plant slowly got back into operation, but the three generators were never completed by the end of the war. They were completed between 1948 and 1949. At this time it reached its peak of 120 megawatts (160,000 hp) from 6 equal Pelton turbines, which lasted until Svartisen power plant was completed in 1993.

Because Svartisen used most of the water, Glomfjord was scaled back and only generator 3 was being used. It was also converted to 50Hz operation and connected to the main power grid.

Today only generators 1-3 remains with only number 3 in normal operation. Generators 4-6 were removed around 2012 to make room for a 2.4-megawatt (3,200 hp) Francis turbine using water from Fykanvann that opened in 2013.

References

edit