The Kistefos Wood Pulp Mill () is a former

pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...

and

hydroelectric power plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

Jevnaker Jevnaker is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jevnaker with a population of 4,302. The parish of ''Jævnaker'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see form ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It was founded by

Kistefos Kistefos is a privately owned investment company owned by Christen Sveaas and led by CEO Tom Ruud. The company comprises wholly owned and part-owned industrial companies within offshore, shipping, and IT, as well as strategic investments in ...

at the river Randselva in 1889.

History

The mill was founded on 27 June 1889 by councilor Anders Sveaas and was in operation from the following year until 1955 when an agreement was made with Follum Fabrikker (now Norske Skog Follum) who took over the operation. Kistefos agreed to deliver power and lumber to the plant at Follum, being paid market price and a premium for the processing. After an internal disagreement in the family the company was sold to the neighbor company Viul Tresliperi in 1983, but was bought back by

Christen Sveaas Christen Sveaas (born 18 June 1956) is a Norwegian businessman, investor, art collector and donor. He is the founder and sole owner of Kistefos AS, vice chairman of the board of the Kistefos Museum and chairman of the board of Anders Sveaas Allme ...

in 1993 and transformed into the

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

Operation

At the plant

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

was created by hydraulic pressure transferred from turbines. Kistefos was early with electricity, and both the factory and the housing was supplied with it. The power came directly from the water fall and was transformed mechanically. After the closing of the factory the fall was converted to a hydroelectric power plant. The lumber came mill owned forests in

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

, pulled across

Randsfjorden Randsfjorden is Norway's fourth-largest lake with an area of . Its volume is estimated at just over , and its greatest depth is . The lake is located at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in Innlandet and Akershus counties in the m ...

and floated down Randselva to Kistefoss.

Museum

In 1991, the power plant was sold to the municipal power company Viul Kraft. In 1995, 85% of the company was sold to Christen Sveaas, the grandson of Anders Sveaas, with the objective to create an industrial museum and a contemporary sculpture park. The museum opened in 1996 as the Kistefos Museet and underwent major renovation works in the following years, thanks to donations by the Jevnaker municipality and by Sveaas. In September 2015, the museum unveiled an expansion project designed by the architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group. The mill was added to the list of priority technical and industrial cultural heritage by the

Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage The Directorate for Cultural Heritage ( or ''Direktoratet for kulturminneforvaltning'') is a etat, government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it mana ...

References

External links

Official site
(Norwegian) {{Authority control Jevnaker