The power plant in the Krka National Park is one of the oldest still active hydroelectric power plants in the world.
As part of the world’s largest hydropower conference, Hydro Vision International, organized by PennWell’s Hydro Group in Charlotte in the United States, the Miljacka Hydropower Plant, managed by the state-owned Croatian Electric Company (HEP), has been awarded the prestigious Hydro Hall of Fame Award. It was selected among more than a hundred energy facilities from the whole world, reports Večernji List on June 28, 2018.
The Hydro Hall of Fame project aims at recognizing outstanding achievements in the hydropower industry sector. Since 1995, once a year it selects one hydropower plant which has been in operation for more than a hundred years and, at the same time, due to its characteristics, represents important energy, industrial and cultural heritage.
The Miljacka power plant, located within the boundaries of the Krka National Park, is the largest hydropower plant on the Krka river and one of the oldest still active hydropower plants in the world. It became operational in 1906 and has been in continuous operation ever since.
At its beginnings, Miljacka was one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in Europe (it was the most powerful in Europe until 1910) and a technological miracle. At the time, it was the only power plant in Europe from which the generators were directly connected, without transformers, to live power lines of up to 30,000 volts, which is impressive even by modern technological standards.
Due to its specific location, the entire power plant was built by hand, while electro-mechanical parts were supplied by the Ganz factory from Budapest in Hungary. Particularly fascinating is the fact that even its 1,620-metre-long gravity tunnel was dug by hand. It is used to bring the water from the Brljan lake to the power plant itself.
The Miljacka power plant had a direct impact on the industrialization of Šibenik and that part of Croatia. The experience gained at Miljacka was invaluable for the development of hydroelectric industry in Europe. Following its technological solutions, many other hydroelectric power plants were built in the rest of the continent.
Today, the Miljacka power plant, with its four plants and the total power of 24 MW, annually produces about 80 GWh of electricity.
Translated from Večernji List.
