The 470 million Norwegion Krone (NOK) loan (49.5 million euros) will fund the construction of five new hydropower plants in the Tosbotn project in the municipality of Brønnøy in the Helgeland region of Nordland County as well as sixth plant at the river Forslandselva in Leirfjord municipality in Helgeland. The Brønnøy plants will be located at Leiråa, Bjørnstokk, Tverråa, Storelva and Tosdalen. The Leirfjord plant has already been constructed at Øvre Forsland and was officially opened by the Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Tord Lien in August 2015. Construction of the others commenced in May 2014 with operations scheduled to begin between April 2016 and September 2017.
The six hydropower plants have been designed in such a way as to beautify their appearance and adapt them to the surrounding environment. The plants will increase security of supply while also increasing generation capacity by 166 gigawatt hours (GWh) to the Nasdaq electricity pool. Total annual production will be 133 GWh
“Hydropower is one of the most mature technologies among renewable energies and has among the best conversion efficiencies of all known energy sources” said Henrik Normann, President & CEO of NIB.
Ove Brattbakk, CEO of Helgeland Kraft, added that it was important to show that it is possible to build hydropower plants that are both beautiful and adapt to the surrounding environment. NIB is a new source of funding for the utility company which has 12 hydroelectric plants with an annual production capacity of 1,100 GWh. Helgeland Kraft is owned by 14 municipalities in the region of Helgeland in Nordland, where it delivers 6,000 GWh of electricity to around 80,000 inhabitants through a 7,800 kilometer distribution network.
NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight countries, specifically Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in these countries and elsewhere around the world
For additional information:
