Greenland's largest hydroelectric power plant, the Buksefjord plant, is set to undergo an expansion that will increase its annual green energy production from 255 GWh to an expected maximum of 660 GWh. The expansion project will be carried out by NunaGreen A/S and utility company Nukissiorfiit, with a consulting team consisting of NIRAS, Inuplan, and AFRY acting as client consultants.
The project will connect another lake and establish a new 16-km-long transfer tunnel from the current intake at Lake Kangerluarssunnguup Tasersua to Lake Isortuarsuup Tasia, which will increase the available amount of water from 352 million m3 to 1,248 million m3. The project also includes the construction of a new power station with two turbines next to the existing plant, access, transport and transverse tunnels.
The consulting team's task includes project management, tendering of contracts, follow-up and supervision, and all technical disciplines, including tunnelling, technical installations, environmental conditions, and plant construction. NIRAS' project manager on the assignment, Rasmus Johannsen, expressed his excitement about collaborating with his colleagues and NunaGreen and Nukissiorfit. “We have held a two-day workshop to get to know the project well and jointly visited the existing hydropower plant in Buksefjorden,” he said.
The project's overall plan involves a market dialogue with interested general contractors in the near future, followed by pre-qualification during the summer of 2023. The contractors will present their bids, and the contract is expected to be awarded in the spring of 2024. The new part of the hydropower plant is set to be operational at the beginning of 2029.
Nukissiorfiit's project manager, Ole Ziemer, expressed confidence in the consulting team. “We are very happy to have such a competent team of consultants on the project, and we feel very confident about this collaboration. It is a team of advisers who have extensive and long-term experience from similar projects, and they complement each other's skills very well,” he said.
According to the 2022 Hydropower Status Report from the International Hydropower Association, Greenland currently has installed hydroelectric capacity of 91 MW. The expansion of the Buksefjord plant will significantly increase the country's green energy production and provide for the growing population and demand for supplies in Nuuk.
