Eiriksdal power plant
Høyanger municipality is located on both sides of the Sognefjord and has 3949 inhabitants. The municipality has a total area of 908 km2. Most of the population lives on the north side, with about 90% who mainly live in the towns of Høyanger, Kyrkjebø, Vadheim and Lavik. On the south side, there is a rural community of Ortnevik, Bjordal and Ikjefjord. The municipality is a result of the merger of the municipalities of Kyrkjebø and Lavik in 1964.
The municipal centre of Høyanger has an exciting and interesting history of how hydroelectric power was used to build an aluminium plant, which today is the oldest operational plant in Norway. The power plant, together with the town of Høyanger, constitutes today a large and important part of Høyanger and Vestland’s identity as a power-producing municipality and county. The industrial facilities, both in the centr of Høyanger and in the surrounding mountains, clearly show the basis for the establishment and development of the town of Høyanger. The technical and industrial cultural heritage from power production helps to provide knowledge about both modern Norway and the emergence and development of Høyanger municipality.
The new power plant, Eiriksdal power plant, is located in Høyanger. It replaced the power plants Høyanger K2 and K3. The power plant utilises a head of 568 meters. A modern concrete portal superstructure forms the entrance portal to the power plant, which is located inside the mountain. The access tunnel is 600 meters long. In connection with the improvement of the reservoirs following the opening of the power plant, a construction road in a tunnel was built that runs parallel to the water tunnel.
In connection with the power plant development, large quantities of rock have been deposited during construction work. The rock presented in picture form in the appendix comes from this facility and has been deposited on the valley floor near the power station. The rocks are typical of the Høyangerfjella mountains in general, but we want to link the contribution to the power industry. In particular, we have large quantities of gneiss with fine stripes and foliations.
