[1] The station is located 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the mouth of the Alta River, and receives most of its water from the great Finnmarksvidda plateau.

The station utilises a 185 metres (607 ft) fall from the dam at the end of the 18 km (11 mi) long reservoir Virdnejávri.

[2] The background for the controversy was a published plan by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE) that called for the construction of a dam and hydroelectric power plant that would create an artificial lake and inundate the Sámi village of Máze.

In 1978, the popular movement against development of the Alta-Kautokeino waterway (Folkeaksjonen mot utbygging av Alta-Kautokeinovassdraget) was founded, creating an organizational platform for first opposing and then resisting construction work.

Documents, which have since been declassified, show the government planned to use military forces to support police authorities' efforts to stop the protests.