Odd Hoftun (27 December 1927 – 15 March 2023) was a Norwegian engineer and missionary.

Biography

Hoftun was born in

Ål Ål is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ål. The par ...

to power station operator Erik Hoftun and schoolteacher Martha Indergaard. He was educated as electrical engineer from the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

, and subsequently worked at and ''

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

’s elektrisitetsverk'' (electric power plant). From 1958 to 1995 he worked in Nepal, sent by HimalPartner. Hoftun's first assignment was to lead the construction of a Mission hospital in

Tansen Rāmtanu ( – 26 April 1589), popularly referred to as Mian Tānsen (), or Sangeet Samrāt (), was a Hindustani classical musician. Born into a Hindu Gaur Brahmin family in Gwalior, he learnt and perfected his art in the northwest regio ...

, for United Mission to Nepal (UMN). During the construction of the hospital Hoftun found that there was a lack of skilled workers in Nepal and he became the driving force establishing a vocational training centre in

Butwal Butwal (), officially Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City (), previously known as Khasyauli (Nepali: खस्यौली), is a sub-metropolitan city and economic hub in Lumbini Province in West Nepal. Butwal has a city population of 195,054 as per t ...

called Butwal Technical Institute (BTI), that opened in 1963. Hoftun was further a pioneer and key person in the early development of

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

in Nepal, through ''Butwal Power Company Ltd.'', ''Himal Hydro Ltd.'', and ''Nepal Hydro and Electric (P) Ltd.'' all initiated by Hoftun under UMN. Hoftun was instrumental in the design, development and construction of

Tinau Hydropower Plant Tinau Hydropower Plant (Nepali: तिनाउ जलविद्युत आयोजना, Tinau Jalbidyut Ayojana) is a run-of-river hydro-electric plant located in Rupandehi District of Nepal. The flow from Tinau River is used to generate ...

, not far from Butwal. The power plant is the first

run-of-the-river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...

plant in Nepal. Walking the distance from Butwal to Tansen during the construction of Tansen Mission Hospital, he thought of the possibility to develop a watering channel and a tunnel for power. The idea materialized as the Andhi Khola Hydropower Station. The community project which was developed around it received the United Nations

Blue Planet Prize The Blue Planet Prize recognises outstanding efforts in scientific research or applications of science that contribute to solving global environmental problems. The prize was created by the Asahi Glass Foundation in 1992, the year of the Rio Ear ...

in 2004. Hoftun was also important in the development of Jhimruk Khola Hydropower Station and the Khimti I Hydropower Plant. Hoftun received several decorations from the

King of Nepal The King of Nepal (traditionally known as the Mahārājdhirāja i.e. Great King of Kings; ) was Nepal's head of state and monarch from 1768 to 2008. He served as the head of the Nepalese monarchy—Shah Dynasty. The monarchy was abolished on 2 ...

, and was decorated Knight, First Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livin ...

in 1990. Hoftun died on 15 March 2023, at the age of 95.

Selected works

*''Fjellandet Nepal'' (1963)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoftun, Odd Hoftun 1927 births 2023 deaths People from Ål Norwegian engineers Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni Norwegian missionaries Expatriates in Nepal Norwegian expatriates People from Butwal