History
Landowner Jan Birkås envisioned a future for his farm with income from his own hydropower plant. The dream of his own power plant was intended to secure the future of the family farm, which has been inhabited since the 17th century. They had sustained themselves through, among other things, goat farming, but with future generations in mind, Birkås chose to sell the milk quota to invest in hydropower. In 1999, planning began for the power plant in Sagelva, where an old sawmill once stood. The family had just paid off the last installment of the loan for the farm building, so everything was ready to embark on new challenges in the form of hydropower. Birkås wished to construct the facility himself, with assistance from an independent consultant and a loan from the local bank.
The bank allowed the landowner to finance the power plant by mortgaging his own farm, car, and power station. When it became apparent that the facility would be more expensive than initially anticipated, the landowner had to personally secure the financing. This was accomplished with inherited funds and substantial private loans from close family members. The bank also required the landowner to lock in the electricity price, which was very low at the time.
The power plant was intended to deliver 750 kW, but instead, it produced less than half of that and operated only sporadically. Annual production was therefore close to zero. The power plant had been planned by a consultant lacking fundamental knowledge of power plants and with conflicting financial interests as a seller of the supplied turbines. The original turbines were evidently manufactured by a supplier without elementary knowledge of turbine design. The result was consequently unusually poor. Småkraft has estimated the two turbines to have a lower efficiency than an old-fashioned watermill, which was common throughout Norway centuries ago.
The farm and land were at risk of being taken over by the bank, but in May 2005, Småkraft purchased the entire facility. The technical installations were upgraded and renewed, and financing agreements and power sales agreements were concluded on market terms. The power plant was recommissioned in May 2006 and now delivers approximately 2.5 GWh. The project’s surplus is shared between the landowner and Småkraft in the usual manner. Småkraft financed the power plant, assumed all risks, and the power can now be sold on the spot market. The lesson is simple: use experts when building a power plant. Do not take on more risk than you can bear.
The turbine is a 5-jet Vertical Pelton. Maximum discharge capacity is 0.55 m³/sec, and it drives an 800 kVA generator. All electricity is transformed up to 22 kV and fed into the grid. Parts of the existing 590-meter penstock were utilized. It consists of 165 meters of ductile cast iron pipes that are buried, 390 meters of GRP pipes, and 30 meters of PE pipes. The penstock has a diameter of 500 mm.
