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Blådalelva power plant was opened on 01.12.10 in the presence of landowners, representatives from Masfjorden municipality and other invited guests. The mayor of Masfjorden, Håkon Matre, presided over the opening ceremony. You can read the newspaper articles from the opening ceremony by clicking on Strilen here or Nordhordlandsavisa here.
History
As far back as anyone can remember, Blådalsvannet lake and river have been used for timber floating, sawmills, and later, power production. The manor house at Fredheim was rebuilt after a fire in the early 20th century. Its materials were sawn at the sawmill located just below the current power station. The sawmill was in operation until after the Second World War.
During the war, the river was used to produce electricity for consumption at Fredheim. The river and Blådalsvannet lake were also of importance for a furniture workshop located by lake in Nord-Kvingo. This workshop utilised the water flowing from Kvingedalsvannet lake at the mouth of the Blådalselva river. Whenever the furniture workshop needed more water, they opened the dam at the very top of the lake. This was a wooden dam with a manually operated hatch that could be opened with the aid of ropes. The furniture workshop was shut down in the 1960s, and since then, the dam at Blådalsvannet has not been in use.
The history of the newly built Blådalselva power plant began in 2001. Landowners began investigating whether it was possible to utilise the river for power production again. They wanted to invest in a larger project and concluded that they needed a partner. The landowners contacted Småkraft AS for an assessment of the potential of the watercourse, and they entered into a development agreement with Småkraft in 2004.
The project
The Blådalselva power plant has a good location by Kvingedalsvatnet lake in Masfjorden municipality. The power plant building was constructed in the familiar Småkraft style, including a glass façade and natural stone walls. The facility is well adapted to the terrain and the penstock is entirely buried.
A licence was granted in November 2007 and the power plant was completed in August 2010. The construction process itself took 14 months to finish. Collaboration between the landowners and Småkraft has been excellent, and several of the landowners participated in the manual construction of the power plant.
