Technical Visits

Technical visits are planned for Friday, 12 June 2026, and are designed to offer first-hand experience of sustainable and innovative water management solutions in the region.

1. Finnfors (museum + operating station) and Sikfors

Full day, 07.00 - 16.30 (at latest)

Bus will stop at Luleå airport on the way back to downtown Luleå.

This visit offers a “then-and-now” journey through more than a century of Swedish hydropower—starting at Finnfors, Skellefteälven’s first power station, and continuing to the modern Sikfors facility on the river Piteälven.

At Finnfors on the the river Skellefteälven, participants will visit Skellefteälven’s first power station, today preserved as the Finnfors Power Plant Museum, where original generators, instruments and turbines remain in place inside a landmark early hydropower building. The visit also includes local history of the village that grew around electrification (photo exhibition, the Machinists’ Residence) and the hands-on “Teknikboa”.

Adjacent to the museum is the operating Finnfors hydropower station, illustrating how historic sites are kept competitive through modernisation and uprating. Most recently, the new generating unit Finnfors G6 was inaugurated in 2023, adding about 10 MW and bringing the plant’s total capacity to around 54 MW. 

The second stop is Sikfors on the Piteälven. The modern station (built 1990) has two units (125 m³/s each) and is designed for highly variable flows: ~180 m³/s typical, up to ~1,200 m³/s during high flows, managed with a four-gate spill system. Fish passage is integral to operations, including a smolt deflector and a 115 m fish ladder for salmon and trout. 

The tour includes lunch as well as coffee breaks, giving you plenty of time to network and discuss what you have seen with fellow delegates.

Price: 600 SEK (excl. VAT)

2. Multifunctional blue green stormwater management

Half-day, approx. 08.00-13.00

Join our half-day technical excursion during the IAHR Europe Congress and learn more about stormwater management in a cold climate. You will get the chance to see e.g., blue-green infrastructure in a newly build urban area, multifunctional swales and the city snow dump where the snow turns to stormwater. The tour includes a coffee break and is ending with a lighter meal, giving you plenty of time to network and discuss what you have seen with fellow delegates.

Price: 450 SEK (excl. VAT)