The Buksefjord hydroelectric power plant is the first and largest hydroelectric power plant in Greenland. It was built by Nuuk-Kraft and it is operated by
Nukissiorfiit
Nukissiorfiit is a government-owned Greenland energy company. Nukissiorfiit means "where energies are created". The company supplies most of Greenland with electricity, water and heat. Most of the electricity is produced by hydro power such as the ...
, Greenland's national energy company.
In 1984–85, Greenland's energy authority prepared a Greenland's hydroelectricity development program. At that time all electricity in Greenland was produced by oil based fuels, but there had been a sharp rise in the oil prices the preceding years. Construction of a plant in Buksefjord was proposed by a private consortium in 1988. In 1989, four companies were invited to a public tender. However, later it was decided that construction of the plant will be financed by the Home Rule of Greenland and the plant will be rented to Nuuk-Kraft consortium. Construction of the plant was approved by the
Parliament of Greenland
The Inatsisartut ( kl, Inatsisartut; '' da, Landstinget, lit=''the land's- thing'' of Greenland''), also known as the Parliament of Greenland in English, is the unicameral parliament (legislative branch) of Greenland, an autonomous territory*
...
in 1990.
[ It was commissioned in 1993.][
Unconventionally, the power station is situated inside a mountain and it consists of of tunnels.][
] The upper reservoir, Kang Lake, is situated above sea level at Buksefjord. Due to damming and deep inlet, it has a total effective volume of , which is six times more than the annual water consumption by the plant. From the lake, a long inlet pressure tunnel runs down to the plant.[
Originally, the plant had two turbines with capacity of 15 MW each. In 2008, a third turbine with the same capacity was installed.][
]
The generated power is transferred to Nuuk
Nuuk (; da, Nuuk, formerly ) is the capital and largest city of Greenland, a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. Nuuk is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities from other co ...
over the long Buksefjord–Nuuk power line, which includes the Ameralik Span The Ameralik Span is the longest span of an electrical overhead power line in the world. It is situated near Nuuk on Greenland and crosses Ameralik Fjord with a span width of at . It was built in 1993 by the Norwegian company NTE Entreprise (Nord- ...
, the world's longest span.[
]
See also
* List of spans
The following is a list of spans, either used for overhead line crossings of rivers, sea straits or valleys, as antenna or for aerial tramways.
Powerline spans in flat areas with high pylons
At these spans the sag of the conductors is less t ...
References
{{Reflist
Hydroelectric power stations in Greenland
Energy infrastructure completed in 1993