Abstract
THE physical configuration of Norway is remarkably favourable for the utilisation of the large number of waterfalls to be found on the seaboard of the mountain chains which almost cover the country, and through the valleys of which the enormous quantity of water precipitated from the western and south-eastern sea breezes finds its way as rivers flowing down to the sea. In the winter the rainfall takes the form of snow, so that the volume of water brought down by the rivers is at its greatest from May to July, when the snows melt on the mountains. To make use of the Water-power, storage is therefore necessary, and for this the nature of the country is peculiarly adapted, being covered with lakes that have very contracted outlets, and which can be easily converted by damming into storage reservoirs. Thus in the watershed of Skien the natural water-power of 50,000 horsepower has been increased to an available horse-power of 375,000, while the Mosvand reservoir has increased the water-power of the Rjukan factories from 30,000 to 250,000 horse-power, with a capital outlay of only some 85,000l.
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Hydro-Electric Plants in Norway and their Application to Electro-Chemical Industry 1 . Nature 86, 501–502 (1911). https://doi.org/10.1038/086501b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/086501b0