Pamilo

Pamilo Hydro Power Plant – designed by the famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto

Pamilo Hydro Power Plant is located in Palovaara, Karelia, in the south east of Finland. With an annual output of 256 GWh, Pamilo is Vattenfall’s largest Finnish hydro power plant and the tenth-largest in Finland. It was inaugurated in 1955. Pamilo draws its power from Lake Koitere and the Koita River, which originates in Russia and flows into Lake Koitere. This area is recognised as one of the most beautiful in Finland.

Characteristics and history of Pamilo

The company Pamilo Oy was founded in 1943. Its owners, the forest company Enso-Gutzeit (now Stora Enso) and the mining company Outokumpu, wanted to generate electricity for their business operations. Although the power potential of Lake Koitere and Koita River had been noted as long ago as in 1908, construction of a hydro power plant did not start until 1952. The reason for this was that Pamilo Oy’s original plan was to build two power stations, but acquisition of the state-owned rivers proved problematic. The solution, which allowed the construction work to start, was to build a canal and a new lake to Palovaara and then build the underground power station there. The water flows from Lake Koitere through Palojärvi to Lake Jäsys. 

The original Hydro Power Plant consisted of two units and it was completed three years later, in 1955. The third unit was completed in 1997. Vattenfall has owned the power station since 2000. The turbine and generator in the second unit were renovated in 2006. 

Pamilo Hydro Power Plant is located in the Finnish Lake District, about 50 kilometres north east of the municipality of Joensuu. To be more precise, Koita River and Pamilo are part of the Vuoksi River basin that begins northeast in Russia and flows into Lake Ladoga in Russia. Located deep in forest wilderness, the actual power plant is underground. The control building, designed by Alvar Aalto, Finland’s most famous architect, is the only visible building and is situated 50 metres above the machine hall. The control building’s irregular window openings are described as ‘an architectural refinement that makes the white building a small work of environmental art’.

Characteristics about hydro power in Finland

During World War Two, Finland lost most of Finnish Karelia to the Soviet Union and with that a substantial part of Finland’s built and potential hydro power capacity. 

The most significant energy user at the time was the forest industry, especially paper and pulp mills, which had to replace the lost power production capacity to be able to expand. One solution was to harness the untouched northern waters. Today, 16% of Finland’s electricity is generated by hydro power. However, Finland’s mountains are relatively low, limiting hydro power production.

The central control room in Porvoo controls the 10 hydro power stations owned by Vattenfall in central Finland and the Ostrobothnia Region.