Slapy Hydropower Plant underwent another phase of modernisation

The second phase of the planned modernisation of the Slapy Hydropower Plant is completed. The machinery TG1, which was connected to the energy network in September 1995, has undergone a major overhaul of the turbine unit including the turbine shaft and, above all, the 30-ton turbine runner of a diameter of 3.7 m. All the parts modernised by the company Litostroj Engineering weigh a total of 60 tons.

The experts of Litostroj Engineering managed to complete the precise installation, in which tenths of a millimetre are decisive, in less than an hour. Under the turbine unit, there is only a discharge casing, through which – during normal operation – water leaves the power plant and flows to produce environment-friendly energy in the downstream plant Štěchovice. 

“The modernisation of the TG1 unit worth more than CZK 150 million will prolong its life by further decades, and it will contribute to the increase of efficiency by 4 %. Thanks to this, we will produce the same amount of electricity from a smaller amount of water, which means that we will make a significant saving on this precious liquid,” Petr Maralík, Director of Hydropower Plants ČEZ, explains. 

The Slapy Hydropower Plant with an installed output of 144 MW (3 x 48 MW) has been undergoing major modernisation since 2011, when the unit TG3 was upgraded. The third and last of the original units – TG2 will come next at the end of this year.

The Slapy Hydropower Plant is part of the Vltava Cascade. In the last year, it supplied 236 million kWh to the grid, and thus covered a year’s consumption of 70,000 households in Central Bohemia.