Statkraft has submitted a licence application to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate for a new Mår power plant in Rjukan, Tinn municipality, Norway, the company said on June 29, 2026.
The proposed facility would increase power generation by just over 13 percent and represents Statkraft’s largest planned project investment in Norway in the coming years. It is part of the company’s NOK 70 billion plan to upgrade and further develop Norwegian hydropower.
The existing Mår power plant was commissioned in 1948 and is nearing the end of its operational lifetime. Statkraft said it has concluded that the best use of resources would be to build a new plant about 1,000 metres further into the mountain, while relocating the intake to the Kalhovd reservoir and the outlet to Tinnsjøen.
According to Statkraft, the changes would increase the height of fall and allow the plant to produce more electricity more quickly during periods of high demand, helping to reduce price peaks. The new plant is planned with nearly three times the installed capacity of the current facility.
The application also includes an option to further increase capacity and establish pumped storage hydropower in a possible future development phase. Such a facility would allow water to be pumped from Tinnsjøen to the Kalhovd reservoir, enabling electricity production when demand is highest.
