The
total installed capacity in 16 hydropower plants with 51 units is 3,015 MW, which
accounts for almost 38.4% of total power potential of EPS. Electricity is generated
in Djerdap HPPs Branch, Kladovo, and Drinsko-Limske HPPs Branch, and Bajina
Bašta.
The
first hydropower plants were commissioned in 1955 – HPP Vlasina, followed by
HPP Morava (1954-1957). However, HPP Djerdap is recognized as the “queen“ of
all hydropower plants.
The
total power output of 28 units in Djerdap HPPs Branch is 1,605 МW, and the mean
annual production is 7,180 GWh, which accounts for about 20% of
electricity generation in „Elektroprivreda Srbije”.
The
construction of HPP Djerdap 1 started in 1964, with joint investments of
Yugoslavia and Romania. In August 1970, the first units were put into
operation, and complete plant was commissioned on May 16, 1972. Core activity
of this hydropower plant is not only electricity generation but also navigation
of ships with navigation locks in the system of Djerdap 1 and Djerdap 2. The
navigation locks in HPP Djerdap 1 are two-level type locks (a ship enters a
chamber and it is then “navigated“ into the outlet water level of the Danube at
the outlet of the chamber). According to the chamber size, these navigation
locks belong to a group of the biggest locks in the world.
The
construction of HPP Djerdap 2 officially started on December 3, 1977, and the
first units were put into operation in 1985. This hydropower plant consists of a
power plant, a navigation lock, an overflow dam and non-overflow dam, as well
as a road over the dam with a state border in its middle. The design of the dam
also foresees a possibility to construct railway over the dam.
Nine
hydropower plants within Drinsko-Limske HPPs Branch on the Drina and the Lim,
have total installed capacity of 1,390 МW. The mean annual generation is
about 3,320 GWh, which accounts for about 10 percent of electricity generation
in EPS.
