Photos

Evening by the Solbergfoss - hydro electric power plant.
Situated just some minutes from my home one can find 3 powerplants just with some 4-5km distance apart from each other. The most significant is this one called Solberfoss:

Solbergfoss is a hydraulic power plant. This means the turbines are run by power produced by the huge throughflow of water rather than by high waterfalls. The stations currently consist of two different power plants that were built at different times and based on different cultures.

The work on the Solbergfoss I power station commenced
back in 1913 (the one at the photo). No one had ever built such a large plant before, and no one was completely sure it would work. To optimise the plant’s location and through-flow factors, a life-like model was built on a scale of 1:25 in Nordmarka, the green belt north of Oslo. This allowed ideas to be tested in actual practice.

The project was gigantic and involved a considerable amount of pioneering work. More than 800 men worked on it at times. Although they used the most modern construction machinery available, it would seem like simple equipment today. Most of the work was based on muscle power and sheer brute strength.

The building was designed by Brede Greve, one of that
period’s great architects, and was the focus of a major
architectural competition. Solbergfoss I was built at a time when people were proud to demonstrate their architectural and engineering talents. It is now a cultural monument.

The stately Solbergfoss power station opened in 1924.
However, the demand for electricity grew steadily. In 1979, planning therefore began on a new power station to augment the old one. Solbergfoss II is a completely modern power station featuring a single large turbine that has the same capacity as all 13 turbines in the old station combined. This means that the entire River Glomma can pass through a single turbine.

The Kaplan turbine is more or less like a ship’s propeller with four adjustable blades. It is still one of the largest of its kind in Europe. It has a diameter of 8.3 metres and weighs 170 metric tonnes. Transporting and installing this giant was a feat in itself.

Solbergfoss II began to feed into the grid in the spring of 1985. The new power station was built in accordance with modernday standards. A small building at the edge of a grassy bank is the only visible result. Everything else is underground.
The Solbergfoss power station produces a total of some
900 million kWh during a normal year. This is equivalent to the annual consumption of 45 000 single-family houses heated with electricity, and accounts for 1 per cent of Norway’s total electricity supply.