Great potential

Hydropower generates a sixth of the world’s electricity. If we modernise old hydroelectric power plants, they can generate even more electricity.  

In Norway, 99 percent of all electricity production is hydroelectric, a renewable, reliable and flexible system which produces energy for generation after generation. The potential for new hydroelectric schemes is the greatest in those parts of the world where energy demand is rising quickly, such as in South America, Asia and Africa.

In countries where hydroelectric power is already well established, a great deal can be gained by increasing the efficiency and output of the existing power stations. As an example, Norwegian electricity production could be increased by 10 percent by upgrading and expanding existing stations.

In the Philippines, Norwegian hydroelectric expertise combines with local expertise. The power stations in Ambuklao and Binga were built in 1956 and 1960 respectively, and when the Philippines abolished its power monopoly in 2001, the plants were largely out-of-date.

In 2007 they were bought by the Norwegian company SN Power, owned by Statkraft and Norfund. New intakes and new water entry tunnels are now being built. Turbines, generators and control systems are also to be replaced. Since SN Power took over, new operating practices have resulted in far fewer outages and the power plant can now produce electricity 90 percent of the time, as compared with 40 percent earlier. In addition, the modernisation of the plant means that capacity will increase by about 30 percent.