Water from the Tysse river has long been used for sawmills. Saws in Tysse were first mentioned in 1630, but they have likely been in use since the 16th century. Like other sawmills in Ryfylke, this sawmill probably delivered lumber to England and the Netherlands.
In 1912, both farms at Rød and one of the two farms in Tysse sold their rights. Waterfall rights were purchased by a itinerant speculators from Stavanger, Odd Roalkvam and Jakob E. Vik. In 1917, they sold the bankruptcy rights to a lawyer in Stavanger, Einar Meling. The waterfall rights later “disappeared” via Meling’s estate, the Rogaland Bank and later Bøndenes Bank/Fokus Ban. Through a bank merger, the bankruptcy rights ended up at another bank, Den Danske Bank. Ownership rights to the waterfall were obtained by one of the Tysse farms and Den Danske Bank. Småkraft leased the fall rights and was the developer of the power plant.