AFTER A TEN-YEAR SLUMP IN new hydro development, work has started at Norsk Hydro’s Tyin plant in Norway. Skansa’s Norwegian subsidiary, Selmer Skanska, has been commissioned to build the plant in a contract worth US$58.8M.
Tyin is located in Vvre Erdal, in western Norway. It will have two generators with a total capacity of 375MW, designed to produce about 1400GWh of electricity annually.
Selmar Skanska’s contract covers all construction and plant work, including a subterranean power station, pumping facility, shafts and 19km of tunnels. The project also includes conversion of the process water system for the Norsk Hydro metal production plant at Erdal.
The plant, which is due to be completed in October 2004, will replace an older facility and will use the existing Tyin reservoir that discharges into the Erdal water course. The expansion des not involve any modification to the reservoir.
‘There is, for the time being, little activity in the field for hydro plants in Norway,’ said Leo Nygœnen, a spokesman for Selmer Skanska. ‘But the new Tyin project is an exception. At the same time, the market for the rehabilitation of existing hydro plants is increasing. This is an interesting segment in which our company is and will be an active player.’