The Štěchovice Hydroelectric Power Station

The Štěchovice I Hydroelectric Power Station was originally built as the second stage of the Vltava Cascade at the end of the World War II. The water reservoir of this medium-head hydroelectric power station is 9.4 km long and reaches as far as the stilling basin of the Slapy hydroelectric power station.

The Štěchovice I Hydroelectric Power Station was originally built as the second stage of the Vltava Cascade at the end of the World War II. The water reservoir of this medium-head hydroelectric power station is 9.4 km long and reaches as far as the stilling basin of the Slapy hydroelectric power station. Its capacity is 11.2 million m³ of water, and its predominant purpose is to balance the fluctuating runoff from the peak-load hydroelectric power station at Slapy. Along with the Vrané water reservoir, it balances the runoff from the entire Vltava Cascade. It allows for the peak-load operation of the Slapy hydroelectric power station, while it generates semi-peak-load electricity. The operation of the 22.5 MW Štěchovice hydroelectric power station is controlled directly from the control centre at Štěchovice.

The Štěchovice water reservoir was built between 1938 and 1944. The concrete dam with a granite revetment is 22.5 m high and 120 m long, with five spillways with crest gates. These spillways with the capacity of 2,400 m³/s are able to handle floods as catastrophic as the one in 1890.

The medium-head power station is equipped as a classic run-off-river hydroelectric power station, with two sets of Kaplan turbines. It further includes an outdoor 110 kV switching station, and outgoing and distribution transformers.