Approximately hundred years ago a new era started here in Tyssedal. A new era which not only revolutionized the valley, but the whole country.

Utilization of "the white coal" – hydro power – changed Tyssedal and Odda from a traditional farming community and a popular tourist attraction among foreigners, to an industrialized society. The development took place within a very short time, with dynamite and primitive tools. In a couple of years the population in Tyssedal grew from thirty to one thousand inhabitants.

Norway's many watercourses had for ages been used to float timber to the ports along the coast, and as the source of power in the many mills and sawmills around the country. The importance of the watercourses now increased significantly.

The power from the waterfalls was transformed into valuable electric power. New technology was used, and the old hydro power-station here in Tyssedal was one of the biggest high pressure stations in Europe.

In places like Tyssedal and Rjukan there was an atmosphere of euphoria. People from all over the country, and from abroad, came here to seek fortune, with more or less luck.

The hydropower formed the basis for industrialisation and new jobs, and further on, a rising wealth for the Norwegian population.

The country's transformation from a farming society to an industrialized society had started. The development of new technology did not stop, though. And time makes even the biggest high pressure hydro power plant in Europe to a part of the past, like the saws and mills once became when electricity made it possible to transmit the power of the waterfall to other, more suited locations.

The sound of the turbines does not reverberate around the power station any longer, but the magnificent building is still standing, and it is a remarkable monument to what once took place here. The outside and inside of the power station is now restored. The museum has made a tremendous effort to achieve today's conditions. This monument is now well preserved for the future, and accessible to everyone.

As Minister of Energy I also find it interesting that the Tysso I power station is heated with the waste heat from the industrial factory nearby. This heating system is also open to the public.

Further up in the valley the Ringedalsdam is still holding on to enormous masses of water. The 529 meter long and 33 meter high dam is a monument to the craftmanship of "rallarne", the casual labourers that built it. Nearby is also the "Mågelibane" located, a funicular railway to the top of the Mågedal mountain. I do recommend the trip!

The period of the mills and the floating of timber is over, and so is to a great extent the building of big new hydro power plants.

Today, our wealth is often taken for granted. Our watercourses and our hydropower, though, is still a significant part of our society, and the utilization of these recourses represents a major part of our industrial heritage.

To make this generation and the next generations aware of the importance of our watercourses and the development that has taken place, it is crucial to take care of this history and its evidences, nationally and internationally.

The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Church and Cultural Affairs have the main responsibility where cultural heritage and museums are concerned.

Report nr. 61 from 1991 to the Storting lays down guidelines which also impose a responsibility on the individual sector. Here it is said : "Each ministry has an independent responsibility to document its own history by securing cultural heritage and by running museums".

In the sector of energy and watercourses this means the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has a responsibility to make sure that our cultural heritage is properly secured and administrated.

The extent of this responsibility is not further clarified, though. Therefore it will be a question for the individual sector to decide what will be the appropriate solutions, in which national goals will have a significant role.

In a national perspective it is a goal to take care of and administrate our cultural heritage as a resource for use and experience, and a further development of the physical surroundings. A representative selection of this cultural heritage is to be taken care of as a source of knowledge and experience.

The Ministry has also the responsibility for the petroleum sector, where the Norwegian Museum of Oil in Stavanger is taking care of the historical aspects.

Within the watercourse and energy sector, our directorate, The Norwegian Water Recourses and Energy Directorate (NVE) is delegated this responsibility.

Furthermore, together with the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry has the responsibility to protect watercourses through special protecting plans.

The utilization of watercourses in Norway has a long history. Departments of cultural Heritage and museums have been working with this history for a long time.

However, the sector is not homogeneous, and the process demands considerable financial support.

There are a lot of museums and information centres related to the watercourse and energy sector, but there is yet no complete survey of the cultural heritage of the sector.

The lack of a general overview has made priorities, balanced assessments, and well stated use of resources, into a difficult task. Therefore it has been an important question to clarify the responsibility within the sector, and to make clear what will be the best ways to promote good initiatives.

A permanent museum work has now been established, managed and coordinated by the directorate. This year, which is also the first, 5 million Norwegian kroner were granted for this purpose.

To secure a good organisation of the Ministry's responsibility a project was started in 1996 together with the NVE. The mandate for this program was to make a survey of the most appropriate way to carry out the responsibility.

The project concluded that it would not be appropriate to establish a new museum, but rather develop collaboration with a limited number of existing institutions. Where museums are concerned, this is quite an untraditional way to proceed, but well suited to the different activities in this field.

The work was continued in 1998, ending up with the conclusion that the future process should have a national perspective, and that a special plan for the use of museums should be conceived. Collaboration with several larger museums institutions was then started.

So far, the last part of the organizing process has been the Directorate's "Museum Project".

Working with history and cultural heritage demands a long term perspective, and the "Museum Project" therefore suggested a permanent museum work, based on close cooperation with existing museums.

As mentioned, the permanent museum work has now been established. The goal for this work is to secure, systematize, and communicate the history of the Norwegian watercourse and energy administration, as well as securing the cultural heritage which reflects this history.

It will also be the basis for establishing a professional environment within the discipline, and make the future process firmer and more predictable.

Regarding museums, the museum administration will collaborate with two national museums which here stand out: The Norwegian Museum of Hydropower and Industry here in Tyssedal and The Norwegian Museum of Forestry in Elverum.

These museums will work with the history deriving from the activity of the Norwegian Water Recourses and Energy Directorate, focusing on watercourses as a source of hydropower and as a way of communication.

Three other museums, The Norwegian Museum of Industry in Rjukan, The Labro Watercourse Museum in Kongsberg, and The Norwegain Glacier Museum in Fjærland will also be involved in communicating aspects of water-history.

Together these museums represent themes within hydro power installations, architecture, characteristic cultural environments, power intensive industry, timber floating, floods, protected watercourses and glacier watercourses. In other words, numerous aspects of the watercourses.

NVE's museum work also has an ambition of making this communication nationwide. There is for example a work going on to establish contact with an institution in the northern part of Norway.

Recently, collaboration with the hydro power business has also been started. The project, called "Cultural heritage within Norwegian hydro power production", is supposed to last for two years, and will give a cultural and historical evaluation of hydro power plants worth preserving from a national perspective.

The museum work will constitute a nationwide network to secure and communicate the history related to the use of water and the Directorate's water governance.

However, the sector is large and complex, and good results will depend on cooperation between the different participants within the sector. The Norwegian Museum of Hydropower and Industry here in Tyssedal is a good example on how different actors have contributed to secure the cultural heritage related to the hydro power installations. For years the Museum has been working to get sufficient financial support for restoration. The Museum has been supported by several different institutions among the public authorities, including the Ministry.

The power station Tysso I was secured by the Directorate for Cultural Heritage in 2000. It is the first, and only power plant, to be protected by law in Norway. There is no doubt that the Museum has done a tremendous effort to achieve this status and what we can see here in the valley today. It is with great interest I note the local authorities' focus on Tyssedal and Odda's nature and culture as a deserving candidate to the UNESCO's World Heritage List. I fully support this effort, and I know our directorate is doing their best to follow up the museum's application. I also appreciate that UNESCO is present here today, and can get to know the area and the hydro power installations.

Finally I will give the museum my greatest honours, and wish them luck in their continuous work.