Møre Trafo in Flåm: Saved the Tourist Power Supply

Dalsbotten

Olav is from Flåm himself and grew up on a farm in Dalsbotten. He left Dalsbotten and Flåm many years ago, and tourism has since transformed the area as it keeps growing and growing. But if there’s anything happening in and around Flåm that Olav doesn’t know about, it’s not worth knowing.

One Million Tourists

– The Flåm Railway has become a tourist attraction that carries one million passengers every year. As a local, it was of course a bit painful to see that “my” station Dalsbotten was closed, supposedly to make the Flåm Railway even more efficient. It certainly hasn’t, says Olav Dalsbotten with a twinkle in his eye.

Substation

Møre-Trafo delivered a new substation with a technical building inside Flåm railway station. Our strong partners Powercontroll AS handled the installation in the technical building, and Laugstol AS took care of assembly and commissioning of the substation.

Work started around Easter so everything would be ready when the tourist season kicked off. The substation consists of buildings that are assembled, customized, and well integrated by being painted in the same colors as the railway buildings. The substation supplies Flåmsbanen with power used for compartment heating in all the carriages.

“Previously, this power came directly from the overhead lines. To avoid draining them, the train heating now comes from the substation from Møre Trafo,” Olav explains.

The World’s Most Beautiful

The wild and beautiful Flåm Railway is named the world’s most beautiful train journey by Lonely Planet Traveller. The trip between the Sognefjord and Hardangervidda takes you through 21 tunnels and 20 steep kilometers between the mountain station Myrdal and the fjord village Flåm.

Charged for World Heritage

Two years ago, Møre Trafo also made sure that two other major attractions can charge their batteries to carry tourists on the mighty and popular Nerøyfjorden, a branch of Sognefjorden.

“Two of the boats that handle sightseeing on Nerøyfjorden have become tourist attractions in their own right, ‘Future of the Fjords’ and ‘Vision on the Fjords’. The first is fully electric, the second is a hybrid, but both are packed with electronics – and tourists,” says Olav Dalsbotten.

Charging Stations

Without engine noise, you can enjoy the silence and the beautiful fjord with World Heritage status. The transformers from Møre Trafo for charging are installed on the quays in Gudvangen and Aurland.

There are plans to build similar vessels for use in Geirangerfjorden, which received World Heritage status at the same time as Nærøyfjorden. Nærøyfjorden is one of the narrowest fjords in Europe, only 250 meters at its narrowest and just under a kilometer at its widest.

Large Substation

• Møre Trafo has delivered a MAXI substation that includes a high-voltage system with two cable switches, a circuit breaker for the transformer and a metering bay for settlement, plus a 2500 kVA oil-immersed transformer, combined with a MAXI insulated technical building with a length of 6.2 meters.
• The two units are delivered separately and assembled on site into one unit.
• The substation with a 2500 kVA transformer has a concrete oil sump with fire grates/drain grates.
• The MAXI technical enclosure has a built-in 1000V switchgear system that supplies the train heating posts at Flåm station.