With the municipalities of Pello and Ylitornio, Tornionlaakson Voima Oy has received permission from the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland to build two natural fishways at Portimokoski rapids. The by-pass channels will allow migratory fish to move past the Portimokoski power plant to extensive breeding areas and support the restoration of the natural lifecycle of migratory fish in the Tengeliönjoki River. The fishways will be built in 2024.
Resembling natural rapids, the fishways will open up a migration route for migratory fish along the old channel of the Tengeliönjoki River, a tributary of the Tornionjoki River, to Lake Portimojärvi. There are over a thousand kilometres of waterways suitable for spawning above the lake. The opening of the migration route will contribute to the achievement of the area’s water management objectives.
“Thanks to the positive permit decision, the fishways, which are the result of cooperation between the power company, the municipalities and the ELY Centre, will improve routes for migratory fish and expand the habitats of the migratory fish. They will also provide important additional information about the performance of natural fishways,” says Jani Pulli, the chair of Tornionlaakson Voima’s Board of Directors.
“The construction of the fishways will take about a year and is scheduled to start in the spring of 2024. In connection with the construction, a bathing beach near the old Haapakoski power plant will be extended. We will also separately renovate a wooden footbridge at the old Haapakoski dam. The impact of the project on migratory fish production will be monitored at the dam itself with the hope to increase the production of trout, grayling and perhaps also whitefish in upstream spawning areas,” says Timo Virikko, the Managing Director of Tornionlaakson Voima.
The natural fishway planned at the northern end of the old Haapakoski regulating dam will be 85 metres long with a cross head of 4 metres. Resembling a natural stream, the fishway planned at the Portimonkoski regulating dam will be 175 metres long with a cross head of 5.5 metres. There will be a vertical concrete slot section at its upper end to regulate the flow into the channel.
At least 1.5 cubic metres of water per second will flow into the fishways during the summer and at least 0.5 cubic metres per second at other times. The fishways will have no impact on the water levels below Lake Portimonjärvi or the Portimokoski power plant.
The water management permit under the Water Act granted by the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland on 6 October 2023 for the construction of the natural fishways at Portimokoski and Haapakoski is legally valid. The Lapland Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment is responsible for the construction.
Additional information:
Timo Virikko, Managing Director, Tornionlaakson Voima Oy, tel. +358 40 844 5047, timo.virikko@tls.fi
Jani Pulli, chairperson of the Board of Directors, Tornionlaakson Voima Oy, tel. +358 50 386 2680, jani.pulli@pvo.fi
Tornionlaakson Voima Oy’s Portimokoski power plant is located on the Tengeliönjoki River in Ylitornio. Completed in 1987, the power plant’s capacity is 10.5 MW and the head of fall 16.5 metres. Tornionlaakson Voima Oy is owned equally by Tornionlaakson Sähkö Oy and PVO-Vesivoima Oy.
Tornionlaakson Sähkö is a local company focused on the distribution and production of electricity with only carbon-free production in Finland, Sweden and Norway.
www.tornionlaaksonsahko.fi
Pohjolan Voima’s subsidiary PVO-Vesivoima Oy produces electricity with its hydropower plants along the Iijoki, Kemijoki, and Kokemäenjoki Rivers. The company’s dams already include two fishways, at Isohaara in the Kemijoki River and at the headwaters of the Iijoki River in Kostonjärvi. The lowermost power plant on the Iijoki River uses a Fishheart fishway that boosts upstream migration, and the uppermost power plant at Haapakoski has Finland’s first downstream migration route for migratory fish. Twitter: @PVOVesivoima. www.pohjolanvoima.fi