Romania’s Hidroelectrica signs EUR 188 mln retooling project at 220MW Vidraru hydropower plant

Romania’s energy company Hidroelectrica announced the signing of the EUR 188 million (VAT excluded) contract for refurbishment works of the Vidraru hydropower plant with the association formed by Electromontaj (association leader) and Croatia’s Koncar-Engineering for production and services, with Butan Grup as subcontractor, following the completion of the award procedure by public tender.

The work should be completed in seven years, according to the execution schedule.

With an installed capacity of 220MW, the Vidraru hydropower plant is located on the right bank of the Arges River in a cavern located 104m below the river level, with the role of producing 409 GWh per year of electricity by using the hydropower potential available in the Vidraru reservoir and participating in the frequency power regulation in the National Energy System, providing other ancillary services as well.

The refurbishment will increase the active power of each of the four hydro aggregates from 55 MW to a minimum of 58.8 MW, maintaining the maximum discharged flow of 22.5 cubic meters/s per unit (respectively 90 cubic meters /s total power plant).

Vidraru hydropower plant, inaugurated in December 1966, uses the hydropower potential of the Arges River over a 28 km sector and has an installed capacity of 220 MW, contributing approximately 400 GWh annually to electricity production. The reservoir has a total volume of 465 million cubic meters, of which 320 million cubic meters represent the useful volume.

The Vidraru dam, at the time of its inauguration, was the fifth largest in Europe and the ninth in the world.

(Photo source: Iulian Dragomir/Dreamstime.com)