Romanian hydropower company spends EUR 80 mln to refurbish 350MW power plant

Romania’s state-owned hydropower company Hidroelectrica will totally refurbish its hydropower plant (CHE) Râu Mare - Retezat under a EUR 80 million project, financed from own funds. The plan’s capacity will increase to 350MW after the process, Economica.net reported.

The company wants to make CHE Râu Mare - Retezat the country’s largest supplier of system services, balancing and peak power supplier, Hidroelectrica’s CEO Bogdan Badea said at the inauguration of the Bretea hydropower plant on Stei river. He added that it is "a priority project" for the company he runs, along with the refurbishment of the hydropower plants at Stejaru (on Bicaz river, Neamt County, Eastern Romania) and Vidraru (on Arges river, Arges County, Southern Romania).

The timing of the investment project at Râu Mare - Retezat depends on the natural conditions. The project will probably start next spring after the dam is replenished.

The Gura Apelor dam, built in the mountains on the Râul Mare river, is the largest embankment dam built in Europe. The construction of the dam began in 1975 and was completed in 1986. It has a height of 168 meters and can hold 225 million cubic meters of water.

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