All hydropower plants on lower Sava switched on again
Krško, 9 August - All the hydroelectric power stations on the lower section of the Sava River have been again operational since Monday after shutting down in the face of last weekend's floods. The situation at the Krško nuclear power plant has been stable throughout the floods, GEN group said on Wednesday.
Brežice
The confluence of the swollen Krka and Sava rivers in Brežice.
Photo: Mojca Zorko/STA
The Krško plant has not been disturbed by the floods, operating at full power all along.
With the exception of two hydropower plants on the upper Sava, those on the lower section of the river were all shut down and their sluice gates opened to let the river run freely.
The flood-regulating reservoir of the Brežice plant was activated for the first time since its construction in 2017, which helped mitigating the high-water surge towards the town in eastern Slovenia by filling the nearby retention areas.
"The volumes were extreme, as some 700 million cubic metres of water flowed down the lower Sava between 4 and 7 August, which is 10% of the average annual flow," GEN group said.
Compared to the 1990 floods, during which the municipalities of Sevnica and Krško were affected, the Sava's flow was about 10% higher this time around, the group's press release reads.
The group, which brings together a number of energy companies or plants, including the Krško nuclear plant and the hydropower plants on the lower Sava, noted that in order to prevent floods south-east of Brežice it was key to build another hydroelectric power station in that area - the Mokrice plant, whose construction has not made headway due to opposition by environmentalists.