Grangesberg. The technical success of electric power-transmission opened
up new possibilities for the use of water-power, and these possibilities
were soon seized upon by far-sighted men in Sweden. The first waterpower
works, whose mission it was to transmit electric energy over greater
or smaller areas and vend it to different consumers, so-called overlands-
centraler (over lands central stations), were constructed by private enterprise.
Those that were first in the field were The Builders of Hissmofor-
sen and Skramforsen, further Yngereds Kraftaktiebolag, Hemsjo Kraftaktiebolag,
Gullspangs Kraftaktiebolag, and Sydsvenska Kraftaktiebola-
get. 1 Later on the State herself appeared on the scene and built the big
power works at Trollhattan, the first section of which was completed in
1910, those at Porjus, and those at Alvkarleby, the former of which is
to be finished and in working order in 1914, and the latter in 1915.
A considerable amount of energy is now disposed of for electro-chemical
and electro-metallurgical purposes. Electric furnaces are thus working
for different purposes:
Eor pig iron at Domnarvet, Hagfors and Trollhattan, for zinc at Trollhattan,
for ferrosilicium and ferromanganese at the same place, as well
as at Vargon and Gullspang, for clorates at Mansbo and Alby, for carbide
and cyanamide at Alby and Ljunga-works.
(See, further, sections on iron-manufacturing and other industries.)
For several years plans have been rafted for the electrification of the
State railway system. An important section of it, “KirunaB-Riksgran-
sen ’, carrying the large iron-ore traffic from the mining districts of Lapp-
land will be run electrically this year, receiving energy from the State
water-power station at Porjus.
Evidence of the interest in the development of the water-power of the
country is also afforded by the foundation of the “ Svenska vattenkraft-
foreningen” (the Swedish Water-Power Association), a union of communal
and private water-power concerns, and of private persons. The
aim of the Association is to promote the utilization of Sweden’s waterpower
by the spread of technical, economic, and legal information in the
matter.
Symptomatic of the interest evinced by the State in the exploitation
of water power is the creation of two new Government offices: Hydro-
grafiska Byr&n, the Hydrographical Bureau, in 1908, and Vattenfalls-
styrelsen, the Board of W a te r f a ll,', in 1909, the latter replacing the Troll-
hatte Canal and Water-Works Board, established in 1905.
The Hydrographical Bureau. It devolves on the Hydrographical Bureau to collect
and work up all such data as may be necessary for an exhaustive and
practical working knowledge of the hydrography of the Swedish fresh water lakes,
rivers, etc, and to make observations and measurings for that purpose.
The Bureau shall make its results accessible to the public by the publication
of year-books, monographies on rivers, treatises, and essays. Above all, the
Bureau is responsible for the editing and publication of the above-mentioned “Re-
1 Kraftaktiebolag = Power Company. Fors = Palls. Sydsvenska = South Swedish.
gister of Waterfalls”: This Register contains information on the flow’ of water
in the rivers at different water-levels, heights of falls, geological data, and so
forth, and should prove to be of great benefit for the development of the waterpower
. industry. The Hydrographical Bureau also, insofar as its time allows, undertakes,
investigations and surveys for communes and private persons for which
certain fees are charged.
The Board of Waterfalls. The principal duties of the Board of Waterfalls,
in regard to water-powei in Sweden, are to adopt measures calculated to encourage
its exploitation. For this purpose it constructs and manages the State’s
own power works and is entitled to utilize the waterfalls which are not equipped
for the State, by leasing them to private persons or concerns. The planning
and advancement of lake-regulation works also falls within the work of the
Board. The Board is composed of a Chairman and Director, “Vattenfallsdirek-
toren”, who devotes all his time to the business of the Board, and four members
who take an active part only in the treatment of more important matters.
These • members act in the capacity of expert advisers in various practical
spheres, such as technique, commerce, industry, and law, and place the Board
in intimate communication with the needs of practical life. In the treatment
of special questions, such as those coming within the sphere of activity of the
Board of Agriculture, the Crown Lands Board and the Railway Board,
representatives of those ■ bodies shall take part in the deliberations, but not in
decisions. However, in case one of these delegates records an opinion at variance
with the decision of the Board, that decision shall be submitted for the
consideration of Government. Thus, it is intended that the Board of Waterfalls
shall as- far as possible see matters from the practical point of view, moreover,
in virtue of the regulations of December 31, 1908, and of other resolutions, the
Board is armed with powers as to the conclusion of contracts, etc. which are
less restricted than is the case generally within the State Administration.
It is under the superintendence of the Board of Waterfalls that the big State
power stations have been erected or are in process of erection, notably those
at Trotthattan for 80 000, those at Porjus for 50 000, and those at Alvkarleby
for 45 000 turbine horse-power.
Especially in the case of the two first-named stations there will be great
possibilities of further development, when the two sources of water-supply, Lake
Vanem and the Lulealv, have been regulated, while the Alvkarleby station
has been planned with a view to the regulation of Lake Siljan. The Board
have such regulation-problems under consideration.
The leasing of State waterfalls, on the other hand, has proceeded rather
-languidly; partly because the State waterfalls are, as a rule, less suitably
located than a number of those in private hands; partly because it is more
difficult to procure credit, as mortgages on the property cannot be given
as security: An attempt has been made to remove the last-named difficulty
by a Resolution of the Riksdag of 1911, which amplifies the leasing
conditions with regard to certain Crown waterfalls as laid down by the
Resolution of the Riksdag of 1 9 1 0 ; the added clauses introduce a new legal
right, “waterfall rights” (vattenfallsratten), which is similar to ground
rights and allows of the conveyance being mortgaged. In devising these
forms for the conveyance of the State waterfalls, the chief object kept
in view was to mitigate the effects of the legal actions alluded to above,
and that in such a wise that the proprietor of a waterfall in dispute should
be enabled to conclude a conditional contract for the conveyance of the