Vitality from Clemens Kraft

Power for local forces

The Nordland municipality of Bindal lies on the border with Trøndelag. At one time, the prospect of gold mining brought optimism; later, the main business was Bindalsbruket, which at one point was one of the country’s largest door manufacturers and provided employment for around 130 people from Bindal. But the gold is still in the mountains, and the doors at the door factory have been locked since it went bankrupt ten years ago.
The population has declined by more than 40% over the past generation. So when local forces want to invest in something that could provide up to twenty new jobs, it is right to try to accommodate them. Clemens Kraft has done so.

When Hellifossen power plant was completed in 2021, local contractors had worked for two years and Clemens Kraft had invested around NOK 100 million in the project. The power plant is now operating at full capacity and can have an annual production of 27.7 GWh – equivalent to the consumption of around 1,400 households.

– Basically, we build power plants to own them. Nærøysundgruppa has bought a site at Bindalsbruket and is developing it for industrial purposes. We thought we would contribute water and produce power for this. Then it turned out that Nærøysundgruppa wanted to buy the power plant. We do not normally do this, but in this particular situation – where we see that Nærøysundgruppa is engaging so extensively in the local community – we are making an exception, Knud Nørve tells Brønnøysunds Avis.

Electricity, water and vitality

Nærøysundgruppa is now establishing a land-based hatchery that can be powered by electricity from the power plant and draw fresh water from above the power plant. Water quality is better closer to the mountain, but drawing water from above the turbines reduces power production and therefore somewhat reduces what they would have paid for. Once such a water intake has been established, it could also be used for drinking water. The water quality is better than that of the current drinking water, but no such agreement exists at present, and it will be a matter for the municipality and the new owners.

Allstad’s vision, «together we create vibrant local communities», is ambitious, but this case provides a new example of what it can mean in practice. For Nærøysundgruppa and Bindal Municipality, it was important that the power plant came into local ownership. Clemens Kraft does not usually sell its power plants, but saw the need and wanted to accommodate them.