Harsprånget Hydro Power Plant

With a total installed capacity of 939 MW, Harsprånget is Sweden’s largest hydro power plant. It is located in Laponia, in northern Sweden.

Harsprånget was initiated in 1919 and built according to the latest technical demands. Because of the recession following the First World War, the project was not completed until 1946.

The power plant broke records for tunnel and reservoir construction as well as generator size, and the capacity was further increased by 1983.

The record cable

The route from generation to consumption required a long-distance 400 kilovolt transmission cable. This cable spanned almost 1,000 kilometres from Harsprånget to Hallsberg, and broke another record when it became operational in 1952.

Importance of hydro power

Hydro power plays a crucial role in our electricity generation. The average annual generation at Harsprånget represents approximately 5 per cent of our Swedish hydro power and almost as much of our total annual generation of hydro power. During 2005, we generated 40 TWh (terawatt hours) of electricity in our hydro power plants, which represented 23,7 per cent of Vattenfall’s total electricity generation.

The important Luleälv River

Harsprånget is located on the Luleälv River, the most important river with respect to hydro power generation for Vattenfall and Sweden. This river is responsible for 13.6 TWh, almost 10 per cent of Sweden's overall demand over a typical year.

Protected areas

Near Porsi, we have created two so-called protected areas. The aim is to preserve and to some extent recreate living conditions for unique plants and birds. Vattenfall was the first company in the world to provide environmentally-declared hydro power in accordance with Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).

Dam safety

The safety of our dams is one of our high priorities. Swedenergy has recently established new Dam Safety Guidelines including specification on new design floods. We have established an extensive upgrading programme for our Swedish dams to meet the requirements in the guidelines. For some dams the spillway capacity will be increased, while some dams will be heightened and strengthened to allow for higher reservoir levels. The monitoring systems will also be upgraded. We have begun an initial study of Harsprånget.
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