AFRY providing consultancy services to expand the largest hydroelectric plant in Greenland
AFRY has teamed up with the engineering consulting companies NIRAS, from Denmark, and Inuplan, from Greenland, and been awarded with a client consultancy contract for the expansion of the Buksefjorden hydroelectric plant.
Buksefjorden power plant is Greenland’s largest hydroelectric power station and supplies electricity to the country’s capital city, Nuuk.
Nuuk has recently experienced significant population growth, which has led to an increased demand for energy supply. It is therefore necessary to expand the capacity of the current hydroelectric plant.
The existing hydroelectric station was built in 1993 and expanded with a third turbine in 2008. The new planned expansion will consist of two new units, a new cavern and tunnel systems. It will also connect an additional lake to the plant via a 16 km-long transfer tunnel. The tunnel will connect the current intake at Lake Kangerluarssunnguup Tasersua to Lake Isortuarsuup Tasia, increasing the available volume of water from 352 to 1,248 million cubic metres.
The project is owned by the Greenlandic state company NunaGreen in partnership with the national energy utility Nukissiorfiit, who will operate the facility once in operation. With this expansion, the production of clean energy will be enhanced from the current maximum of 255 GWh annually up to a future capacity of potentially 660 GWh.
AFRY’s role in collaboration with its consortium partners, NIRAS and Inuplan, will consist of project management, tender for the turnkey contract, project follow-up, site inspections, as well as all technical disciplines, including tunnelling, technical installations, transmission, environmental conditions, plant construction and buildings.
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
says Ole Ziemer, Project Manager at Nukissiorfiit.
It has been a good and promising start to an important green transition project and we are very proud to be part of such a strong and competent team
says Fredrik Persson, VP and Head of Transmission & Distribution.
I am confident that by deploying our long-standing expertise with our partners, we will be able to support NunaGreen and Nukissiorfiit with the highest level services for the realisation of this strategic project that marks a significant step forward for Greenland on its path towards a clean energy transition
adds Ernst Zeller, Managing Director for Austria, Regional Director Hydropower.
According to the current time table, the new part of the hydroelectric plan will be completed and start operation at the beginning of 2029.
