Daja Hydroelectric Power Station
The Daja Hydroelectric Power Station is a hydroelectric power station in the municipality of Fauske in Nordland county, Norway. It is located about east-southeast of Jakobsbakken.
The plant utilizes a drop of in the Balmi River between two lakes: Kjelvatnet at an elevation of and Nedre Daja at an elevation of. The level of Kjelvatnet is regulated with water from two other lakes: Balvatnet and Big Lake Dorro. Nedre Daja is too small a body of water to rely on, and so electricity production must be coordinated with the Fagerli Hydroelectric Power Station, which utilizes the drop from Nedre Daja to Langvatnet. Today the plant has an installed capacity of, with an average annual production of about 157 GWh from a catchment area of.
The plant was built in 1958 by Balmi Kraftlag with Sulitjelma Mines as the main shareholder at 60%; Salten Kraftsamband later acquired 40%. In 1983 the mining operations came under state ownership together with ownership of the watercourse. SKS operated the plant on behalf of the state until 1997, when it was able to buy the state's stake in the plant. Due to the former mining operations in Sulitjelma and the hope for new operations, there is still a clause for up to 30 GWh/year to be used at cost by any new mining operation.
