Hydroelectric power station (Włocławek)

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Hydroelectric power station on the western side

The hydropower plant in Włocławek is the largest run-of-river power plant in Poland , which created the Jezioro Włocławskie reservoir on the Vistula . At first this hydroelectric power station was supposed to be part of a cascade on the lower Vistula, but the other dams were not built.

history

The barrage was built in 1962–1970. The hydroelectric power station in Włocławek was initially managed by the Zespół Elektrowni Wodnych Okręgu Północnego in Straszyn . In 1973 the Rejon Elektrowni Wodnych Włocławek ( REWW ) was founded. In 1976 the REWW was dissolved again and the hydroelectric power station was taken over by the power company Zakład Energetyczny Toruń . On March 1st, 1998 Elektrownia Wodna we Włocławku sp. z oo (German: Wasserkraftwerk in Włocławek GmbH ), which officially existed until March 12, 2013. After many years of restructuring processes in the companies of the energy group Energa , the subsidiary Energa Wytwarzanie SA became responsible for the hydropower plant in Włocławek .

Technical specifications

  • River: Vistula
  • Water kilometers: 674,850
  • Construction period: 1962–1970
  • Dam altitude: 57.30 m above sea level sea
  • Average height of fall: 8.80 m
  • Number of hydrogen generators: 6
  • Turbine type: Kaplan turbines
  • Installed capacity: 160.2 MW
  • Installed flow rate: 2190 m³ / s
  • Average electricity production: 739 GWh / a

Technical problems

After the construction of the barrage and the entire hydropower plant in 1970, the dam was scheduled to operate for 10-15 years. During this time, further dams (hydroelectric power plants) were to be built on the lower Vistula. Due to economic problems there was not enough money to build the remaining power plants. The dam stands alone to this day, although its technical condition has deteriorated.

It was not until the beginning of the 1990s that attention was drawn to the dam's condition. The first reports were then published, stating that the structure could tip over and cause a major disaster. In order to prevent the dam from collapsing and to relieve the outdated construction, it was planned to build a hydropower plant in Nieszawa . In 2012 it was decided to do without this location and to build an additional dam (hydropower plant) at kilometer 708 of the Vistula in Siarzewo.

The reconstruction and renovation of the dam in Włocławek cost 115 million złoty and was completed in 2015 after 3 years of construction. However, this did not solve the problem of river bed erosion along the Vistula. The construction of an additional barrage in Siarzewo has not yet started. It is believed that construction can start in 2020 provided all necessary administrative decisions are taken. Not all scientists are in favor of the construction project for the new barrage.

Construction of the hydropower plant and its impact on the environment

The reservoir was built on the site of a former natural river system that can still be found on the Vistula between Wyszogród and Płock . The flooding of this part of the river led to the loss of many valuable communities of plants and animals in this area.

As a result of the construction of the hydroelectric power station, the migration of the anadromous fish up the Vistula basin came to a complete standstill. The construction of the fish ladder at the dam did not prevent this phenomenon for several reasons. During the last reconstruction of the dam, the fish ladder was also rebuilt. According to the person in charge of its operation, it works much better than the old design. A computer system scans, controls and registers all fish swimming through and collects the data on their quantity and type. In addition to the negative effects of the construction, there are also positive environmental changes for the area around the dam. The dam improved the water supply in areas with little rainfall. It is widely believed that the energy from the dam is clean because it does not emit toxic or greenhouse gases.

According to some environmental activists (including Adam Wajrak), however, the dam is not ecological. Some also claim that the Włocławek hydropower plant has a significant impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, as it emits around 400 mg / m² of methane per day due to the amount of organic matter in the reservoir .

Dam - general view

Reconstruction of the fish ladder

In 1970, one year after the construction of the dam, a fish ladder consisting of 33 chambers was put into operation with a flow rate of 0.935 m³ / s. Research in 1971–1974 showed that fish can cross the stairs, but the number of sea trout using the fish ladder is disproportionately small in relation to the size of the herd. The condition of the fish ladder has deteriorated over time. In the first two years of its operation, the deep erosion of the river bed caused the ground to sink 2.5 m. The situation was supposed to be improved by a stone sill at the entrance to the fish ladder to stop erosion. However, research from 1998–2004 showed that this solution made access to the fish ladder worse. As a result, only 3.5% of the fish entering the fish ladder were able to swim through it completely.

In 2014 the fish ladder was rebuilt, which, according to the water management authority, improved the migration of sea ​​trout and tufts . The new fish ladder consists of 60 chambers, a flow rate of 0.59 m³ / s and a slope between the chambers of 0.22 m (for comparison, the slope in the old fish ladder was 0.4 m).

Fish monitoring

Appropriate devices were installed to monitor fish migration. One of these is the Riverwatcher fish meter installed in the 49th chamber, which consists of two plates placed parallel to each other. They send or receive infrared rays of light. A fish swimming between the plates crosses the rays of light. Hence its shape is known. The meter is also equipped with a camera. The second monitoring device is a fish trap installed in the 60th chamber. The fish ladder is also equipped with a pipe that attracts fish into the fish trap. In order to ensure the correct migration conditions, the fish ladder should be operated according to the “Instructions for using the fish ladder on the barrage in Włocławek”.

For the correct operation of the fish ladder, the following are required:

  • constant checking of the water level in the water level meters,
  • Control of water entry points in the fish ladder,
  • Control of the water inlet in the attracting pipeline,
  • Control of the structural parts within the fish ladder.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Energa Wytwarzanie SA: Działalność firmy. Retrieved August 13, 2015 (Polish).
  2. ^ Energa Wytwarzanie SA: Elektrownia Włocławek. Retrieved August 13, 2015 (Polish).
  3. ^ Energa Wytwarzanie SA: Zarządzanie obiektami. Retrieved August 13, 2015 (Polish).
  4. ^ Energa Wytwarzanie SA: Historia. Retrieved August 13, 2015 (Polish).
  5. ↑ Krzysztof Kowalski, Przegrodzona Wisła próbuje odzyskać swobodę , “Rzeczpospolita”, no 121 z 26 V 2010 r., S. A16-A17.
  6. ↑ jest lokalizacja Nowej tamy na Wiśle. Retrieved November 22, 2012 (Polish).
  7. ↑ Włocławek: koniec remontu zapory na Wiśle. Retrieved July 27, 2016 (Polish).
  8. ↑ Marek Ledwosiński: Po 3 latach zakończył się na remont tamy Wiśle we Włocławku. Retrieved July 27, 2016 (Polish).
  9. ↑ Maciej Wilkowski: ws Porozumienie. budowy stopnia wodnego Siarzewo podpisane. Retrieved December 5, 2017 (Polish).
  10. ↑ Aleksandra Szyłło. Tama w Nieszawie to wyrok śmierci dla Wisły. Retrieved March 13, 2018 (Polish).
  11. ^ Robert Jurszo: Nowa tama na Wiśle zagraża nawet Bałtykowi. Szyszko już zadecydował o budowie, choć nie ma zgody RDOŚ. Retrieved March 6, 2018 (Polish).
  12. ↑ Tomasz Ciechoński. Ekolog: Budujmy tory, a nie tamę . “Gazeta Wyborcza (Toruń)”. No. 174 (8781), s. 2, 2016-07-27. Grzegorz Giedrys (editor prowadzący). Warszawa / Toruń: Agora SA. ISSN 0860-908X ( pol. ).
  13. ↑ Materiał CW 24tv Justyny ​​Iwanickiej i Krystiana Kocanowskiego Tak funkcjonuje monitoring ryb na włocławskiej tamie
  14. ↑ Adam Wajrak, Cały naród buduje dla Energi , [w:] "Gazeta Wyborcza", nr 298 z 21 grudnia 2012 r., S. 32.
  15. ↑ Adriana Trojanowska, Marta Kurasiewicz, Łukasz Pleśniak, Mariusz Orion Jędrysek. Emission of methane from sediments of selected Polish dam reservoirs . “Teka Komisji Ochrony i Kształtowania Środowiska Przyrodniczego - OL PAN”. 6, p. 368-373, 2009 ( ed. ).
  16. ↑ Piotr Debkowski. Migracja ryb przepławką na stopniu wodnym we Włocławku w 2015 roku . . “Komunikaty rybackie”. No. 4 (153) / 2016, s. 1-7, 04.2016. Instytut Rybactwa Śródlądowego w Olsztynie
  17. ↑ Tomasz Pokropski, Monitoring migracji ryb przez przepławkę na stopniu wodnym we Włocławku w 2016 roku . ,