The aim of the bypass solution is to strengthen the natural cycle of the endangered lake trout in the Hyrynsalmi route, which is part of the Oulu River water body.
Fortum is investigating the implementation of a bypass solution for migratory fish migration at the Seitenoikea hydropower plant located on the border between the municipalities of Ristijärvi and Hyrynsalmi.
The aim of the bypass solution is to strengthen the natural cycle of the endangered lake trout in the Hyrynsalmi route, which is part of the Oulu River water body.
– The Seitenoike power plant is included in the national fishway strategy adopted in 2012. It has identified sites that are the best places to restore migratory fish breeding conditions, so Seitenoikea is the next potential site. No decisions have been made on that yet, and of course it will also be affected by this ongoing valuable water project in the Oulu River basin,” says Hämäläinen.
During the next year, a feasibility study of the bypass solution will be carried out, where all bypass solution alternatives will be taken into account and which of them would be best suited to the conditions of the Seitenoikea power plant.
The bypass solution is part of the set of measures implemented by Fortum on the Hyrynsalmi route, where the only top destinations in the Oulu River watershed of the national fish road strategy are located.
The whole includes, for example, the hydraulic Kalasydän fish road put into operation at the Leppikoski power plant below Seitenoikea in 2021.
The artificial intelligence-based fishway invention has already helped 12,800 fish over the Leppikoski power plant in Paltamo. The Kalasydän in use at Leppikoski is a Finnish innovation.
It attracts upstream migrating fish to the mouth of the pipe, identifies the fish using artificial intelligence and camera technology, and uses water pressure to move the fish along the pipeline over the dam.