Đerdap 1 hydropower plant refurbishment has been
successfully completed, acceptance tests are underway, while power system synchronization
and connection are expected by mid-November at the latest. These days, the
first rotation of the last refurbished unit A3 was started and Đerdap 1 with
six modernized and stronger machines is ready to utilise potential of
the Danube.
- Đerdap 1 has been the pride of our hydropower
industry for more than five decades, and after successful refurbishment, it
will certainly be so for the coming 30 to 40 years. We got increased capacity,
less scope of maintenance and decades of reliability - said Dušan Živković, acting
general manager of Elektroprivreda Srbije, after touring the completed works.
Živković pointed out that after Đerdap 1
refurbishment, the total capacity of its six generators was increased to 1,140
megawatts, and by increasing the nominal active power of each generator from
171 to 190 megawatts, EPS got one new 100-megawatt power plant.
- We will continue hydropower plant refurbishments in
the coming period, while the most significant projects are the modernization of
Vlasina hydropower plants, Bistrica HPP, Potpeć and Đerdap 2. The European
Union has also recognized the importance of EPS hydropower plant refurbishments.
To this end, EPS was awarded a EUR 49 million grant through the Western Balkan
Investments Framework (WBIF) to finance four RES projects. Of that, EUR 16.1
million are intended to refurbish Vlasina hydropower plants - said Živković.
Vladan Živanović and Miodrag Ranković, members of the
Supervisory Board of EPS, together with executive directors, toured the
completed works at the Đerdap 1 HPP.
Đerdap 1 HPP, the largest hydropower plant of the
Elektroprivreda Srbije system, produces about half of the total electricity
from the hydropower plant sector of EPS. Extensive refurbishment of Đerdap 1 HPP
was carried out by technical teams of Elektroprivreda Srbije, Đerdap HPP,
experts from local scientific institutions and the Russian company Silovije
mašini. Unit A3 was stopped on 1 September 2022, after more than 51 years
of operation. The largest part installed in one piece on the Unit A3 is the
rotor of the main generator weighing 610 tons and 14.15 meters in diameter. The
350-ton, six-bladed runner is the most attractive one-piece assembly. Some 40 kilometres
of power and signal cables have been installed in each unit. The state-of-the-art
equipment from domestic and international manufacturers has been installed in
the refurbished units.
The main equipment supplier is the Russian company Silovije
mašini from Saint Petersburg, while part of the equipment was refurbished by
local factories. The magnitude of this project is illustrated by the fact that
1,300 tons of rotating and 950 tons of static equipment were dismantled. The
contractors were the workers of Đerdap 1 HPP, Goša montaža, Đerdap usluge, ATB Sever from Subotica, Jadran,
Kolubara Metal as well as experts from the Nikola Tesla and Mihajlo Pupin institutes,
while metal components were inspected by the Materials Testing Institute from
Belgrade.
