Longyearbyen has got the power

Posted on 9. April 2024 by Rolf Stange

Longyearbyen and its power: a never-ending story. This is not about higher powers, it is about electricity and long-distance heating. But this is enough to write a book about in this little town in Adventfjord (not for me as an author, thanks).

As visitors of this website will probably know (have a look here for a quick refresher), Longyearbyen’s power supply was based on coal for more than a century. Last autumn, coal was replaced with diesel. This is a temporary solution only, the idea is to install something more environmentally friendly, ideally without CO2-emissions. But nobody knows what exactly this should be although it is a question that has been debated for years already. The idea of a nuclear power plant for this town with 2500 inhabitants has recently surfaced again in a letter to the editor of Svalbardposten, the local newspaper.

The Power plant in Longyearbyen supplies people with electricity, long-distance heating and conversation topics.

Technical issues and capacity worries

The operation of the new diesel generators, however, turned out to be anything but smooth. There have been technical issues more than once, including a havary of one of the engines that was similar to an explosion. One man got a good share of oil and engine parts from short distance. Luckily, he did not receive any serious injuries. Major customers who have got their own emergency power systems such as mine 7, the last coal mine near Longyearbyen still in operation, and KSat (the operator of the satellite antennas on Platåberg) have been asked to use their capacities to reduce the burden on Longyearbyen’s power plant.

Help from the Norwegian military

A few weeks ago, Sysselmester (governor) Lars Fause decided that Longyearbyen’s power supply system was not good enough, especially in these times of cold temperatures, and he asked the Norwegian military for help. They have capacities to set up a power supply system anywhere on short warning, and that is just what they did in Longyearbyen. The military generators now serve as a backup system in case the original system should experience major troubles, it is not intended to be used. But this is only a temporary backup and not a permanent solution.

The Norwegian airforce was heard saying that they could evacuate Longyearbyen quickly at any time if needed. This rather drastic measure could come into play in the event of a major interruption of Longyearbyen’s power supply, something that could quickly lead to a dangerous situation especially in the cold season. Temperatures have recently often been under -20°C, and most houses are poorly insulated. And almost all buildings in Longyearbyen rely on distant heating. A collapse of the distant heating system would soon seriously affect the water supply, which in itself is challenging enough even when heating and power are no problem. We have seen enough of that in recent weeks.

Price increase to be expected

Nobody knows for sure what Longyearbyen’s power supply of the future will look like. But there is little doubt that it will be expensive. Little Longyearbyen will hardly be able to pay the bill on its own and financial aid from Oslo is likely to play a major role. Nevertheless, an increase in prices is expected (they are talking about this while I am writing) – starting on a level that is already pretty high.

Diesel power plant without permission

To make things even “better”, the diesel power plant that is now in operation is running without the necessary permissions. The operator, a company owned by the community, appears to have assumed that the old license for the coal power plant would be sufficient also for the diesel generators, also based on the assumption that emissions would now be lower. There appears to be some uncertainty about wether or not this is actually the case, but higher authorities have now made it clear that the operation of the power plant requires permission which is not yet in place. At least, authorities have remarked that there is awareness of the importance of the power plant for Longyearbyen and a forced shutdown is not to be expected on short notice (but theoretically possible).

Longyearbyen’s power plant: “legalise it” 😅
With a subtle hint to an entirely different debate.
Photomontage by Wolfang Hübner-Zach, without any personal interest in the matter that is added to the original photo.

Ready for yet another fun fact? There was a diesel power plant in Sveagruva, the former mining settlement in Van Mijenfjord that has undergone a major cleanup in recent years. There are those who knew it and who say that it would have served Longyearbyen perfectly well.

The old Svea power plant has recently been turned into scrap metal.

At least the generators from Lunckefjellet, Sveagruva’s most recent mine that never entered the stage of productive production, are now envisaged to replace the above-mentioned military generators and serve as a backup for Longyearbyen’s main system.

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