Investments in hydropower

Pohjolan Voima’s hydropower plant renovation and efficiency programme (VESPA) is proceeding according to plan. In 2010, reparations took place at the Maalismaa hydropower plant.

It was decided that Pohjolan Voima’s Kollaja project plans should be taken under further consideration. Based on the adjusted plan, the project’s impact on Natura values have been reassessed in co-operation with a number of experts.

Hydropower renovation project continues at Maalismaa

In 2010, Pohjolan Voima’s hydropower plant renovation and efficiency programme proceeded according to plan on the Iijoki River. Renewal of the second machine unit at Maalismaa power plant, which had begun in December 2009, was successfully completed in the spring 2010 before spring floods began. In December, the project went on with the renewal of the first machine unit.

During the renovation programme, initiated in 2005, the machine units of five hydropower plants located on Iijoki will be replaced or overhauled completely. Before the Maalismaa plant, the power plants at Kierikki and Haapakoski were renovated. After Maalismaa, the renovation work will proceed to the Pahkakoski power plant between 2011 and 2013. The hydropower plant renovation programme will increase the total capacity of the plants by about 30 MW. The project will continue until the mid-2010s, and the total costs will amount to about € 50 million.

Complete overhaul at Kaaranneskoski hydropower plant

A complete overhaul of the Kaarannekoski hydropower plant, located on the Tengeliönjoki River, was finished in the spring 2010. The overhaul, which had been started in the autumn of 2009, involved a replacement of the power plant’s turbine rotor, controls, automation system and main transformer and a renovation of the generator and other equipment. The plant’s capacity increased to approximately 3 MW. The costs of the overhaul project were estimated to be a bit more than € 2 million. Kaaranneskoski is owned by Tornionlaakson Voima, an affiliate of Pohjolan Voima and Tornionlaakson Sähkö.

Adjustments to Kollaja plan

Pohjolan Voima has decided to reconsider the Kollaja plan drawn up in 2008. To ensure that the Natura values of the Pudasjärvi estuary will be preserved, a number of changes will be made to the plan.

Pohjolan Voima’s plan concerning the reservoir and hydropower plant at Kollaja was completed in connection with the environmental impact assessment at the end of 2008. A separate Natura assessment was drafted on the Pudasjärvi estuary. Contrary to the conclusion of the assessment, in a statement issued in October 2009 the North Ostrobothnia Regional Environment Centre was of the opinion that the Kollaja project would significantly deteriorate the Natura values.

In 2010, Pohjolan Voima strengthened its assessment of the impact on nature in co-operation with a number of experts. In this context, a number of adjustments have also been introduced in the plan.

Read more about the Kollaja project at www.kollaja.fi » (in Finnish only)