Alta Hydroelectric Power Station

Virdnejávr Dam
Alta Hydroelectric Power Station is located in Finnmark
Alta Hydroelectric Power Station
Location in Finnmark county
Official nameAlta kraftverk
CountryNorway
LocationAlta Municipality, Finnmark
Coordinates69°42′17.77″N 23°49′08.03″E / 69.7049361°N 23.8188972°E / 69.7049361; 23.8188972
StatusOperational
Opening date1987; 37 years ago (1987)
Owner(s)Statkraft
Dam and spillways
Type of damArch
ImpoundsAlta-Kautokeino River
Height145 m (476 ft)
TypeConventional
Turbines2
Installed capacity150 megawatts (200,000 hp) (max. planned)

Alta power station (Norwegian: Alta kraftverk) is a hydroelectric power station located on the Alta-Kautokeino River in Finnmark county, Norway. The power station is located in Alta Municipality, just north of the border with Kautokeino Municipality. It is operated by Statkraft, a Norwegian state-owned electric company, and it opened in 1987.[1]

The station is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the mouth of the Alta River, and receives most of its water from the great Finnmarksvidda plateau. Below the power station, the river has salmon, and is a good fishing river. The station consists of two generators, at 100 megawatts (130,000 hp) and 50 MW (67,000 hp), respectively. The station utilises a 185 metres (607 ft) fall from the dam at the end of the 18 km (11 mi) long reservoir Virdnejávri. From the 145 m (476 ft) tall Virdnejávr Dam to the end of the power station, the river is dry for about 2 km (1.2 mi). It is the tallest dam in the country.[2]

  1. ^ Store norske leksikon. "Altaelva" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  2. ^ "Norsk Dambygging" (PDF) (in Norwegian). NTNU. 22 October 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.