Vrané nad Vltavou Power Plant Turns 90 — ČEZ to Open It to Visitors

The Vrané hydroelectric power plant near Prague is marking 90 years of continuous operation — it has been supplying electricity without interruption since 1936. It is the oldest of the major stations in the Vltava cascade, and to mark the anniversary, energy company ČEZ will open its doors to the public.

According to ČEZ, the plant delivers around 60 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to the grid each year — enough to power roughly 20,000 households. Even so, Vrané isn't the oldest hydro plant in the company's fleet: that distinction goes to the Čeňkova Pila plant, built in 1912, along with several smaller stations in Hradec Králové and at Les Království nad Labem.

The dam was built in the 1930s

Construction of the dam at Vrané began in the 1930s and was completed in 1936. Today the plant runs two Kaplan turbines that underwent extensive modernization between 2007 and 2009, each with an installed capacity of 6.94 megawatts.

The reservoir stretches about 12 kilometers along the Vltava and another three kilometers along the Sázava, holding 11.1 million cubic meters of water. It's the closest major hydro facility to Prague — together with the Štěchovice reservoir, it helps even out the flow from Slapy and keep water levels on the Vltava more stable.

"Before long, Vrané will join the ranks of our century-old power plants — like Želina near Kadaň, Hučák in Hradec Králové, Čeňkova Pila in the Klatovy region, and Spálov near Železný Brod. The fact that these plants are still running after all these years is, I think, a real achievement. It's possible mainly thanks to careful maintenance and continuous modernization," said Robert Hecko, director of ČEZ's hydroelectric plants.

How to join a tour

The plant will open its doors to visitors on Saturday, September 12, from 9:00 to 14:00, and again on September 19, from 9:00 to 12:00. Groups of ten will be able to see the entire production process. Advance registration via the "Svět energie" (World of Energy) website is required. The celebrations will also include an exhibition at the Old Paper Mill complex, dedicated to the historical transformation of the Vltava valley landscape.

Nine pearls of the cascade

Construction of the Vltava cascade began in the 1930s, gradually forming a system of nine hydro facilities that ČEZ now operates as a single unit. It includes the stages of Lipno I and Lipno II, Hněvkovice, Kořensko, Orlík, Kamýk, Slapy, Štěchovice, and Vrané. Lipno and Štěchovice each house two power plants — bringing the cascade's total to 22 generating units.

The Štěchovice facility was built between 1937 and 1945, Slapy between 1949 and 1955, Lipno I and II between 1952 and 1959, Orlík between 1954 and 1966, Kamýk between 1957 and 1962, while the youngest dams, Hněvkovice and Kořensko, were built between 1986 and 1992.

The interconnected system allows for flexible regulation of power output according to the grid's current needs: ČEZ's central dispatch center in Štěchovice coordinates all the stations to make the most efficient use of the water's potential. The cascade's combined installed capacity exceeds 750 megawatts — roughly a third of the output of the Temelín nuclear power plant.

Source: novinky.cz