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Knut Bøhn
Knut Bøhn is one of several landowners at Reinli power plant. He is also an operator for the power plant. Here he talks about the power plant, what it means to the village, and about his partnership with Småkraft.
We started thinking about building the power plant in 2000. We then looked at sizes and decided on the size of the current power plant.
We applied for a license in 2003, and it finally arrived in 2004. The first thing we did was to create a waterfall group with all the landowners.
In February 2008, everything was ready.
When we started building the power plant, everyone in the village came together. Many meetings were held to determine how we should go about this. What is unique about this power plant is that it has a very long penstock, just over 3 km long with a good drop, 330 metres.
When the plant was finished, I was the one chosen to be in charge of operations, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I clean the grate in the pond and look for ice and such. I always check things at the power station. It needs lubricating once a week, and I check the temperatures of the bearings, transformers and other things. I want the plant to run well without any unwanted stoppages.
The Reinli
power plant means a lot to the village. It brings us together on a common project and it contributes towards a green and renewable energy.
What is unique in Reinli is that large parts of the village have joined and are shareholders. The power plant provides a good secondary income for the farms, which in turn contributes to making it more attractive for the future generations to settle on the farm and in Reinli. The financial value creation is also important for the greater society. Local contractors in Reinli won the tender for the construction of the facility.
Småkraft has seen ripple effect analyses showing that an average of NOK 13.5 million per power plant creates value for the local community.
Our collaboration with Småkraft has been excellent, and we feel we’re being heard. Småkraft quickly steps in when we need help. This provides good security for me as an operator and for all the other owners. The river has given us better operations than expected. There are rarely any stoppages, apart from a few weeks during the summer when there is little water.
