On average, online visitors toured the Temelín NPP for some 3.5 minutes. "We expected it that the chance to see the very core of the power plant would be attractive. Yet we were surprised and pleased at the same time that the numbers of visitors would reach tens of thousands in such a short period of time. For example, two thousand people opened the virtual tour just within the first thirty minutes after it was launched,” says Marek Sviták, Spokesman at Temelín NPP.
Shortly after ČEZ launched this novel tour at its website, the corporate web server experienced an unusual overload. The web infrastructure capacity thus had to be extended. For this reason, on the first day the virtual tour responded a bit slowly to the visitors’ commands. Nevertheless, users generally appreciate the non-traditional manner of peeking under the surface of the largest Czech power plant, without having to undergo any entrance checking procedures. “The virtual tour is really nicely prepared. I understand that the power plant itself is not a great tourist site, and so I appreciate the operator’s approach to presenting it this way,” Jaroslav Čech of Prague described his impressions of the tour.
“These days it is not enough to present things on a website with static pictures. Interactive elements pave the way toward making the presentation of such places more attractive,” commented Petr Slezák of České Budějovice.
Some people have voiced concerns in respect of the power plant’s security, and the competent representatives take these to heart. “This line of thought is correct. Therefore, the tour does not include certain systems and equipment that are crucial for the power plant’s security,” Sviták commented.
As part of the virtual tours of seven of ČEZ’ power plants (see the table below), users may visit a total of 105 stops. All the power plants have so far been visited by nearly 40,000 online visitors from the Czech Republic and other countries. According to Google Analytics, the pages have been displayed more than 60,000 times in total.
“We are happy that the great demand for tours of our power plants and information centres has also manifested in the online world, and now everybody can really see everything from very close up,” says Marie Dufková, ČEZ Education Programme Coordinator. Over the whole year of 2013, the CEZ Group’s power plants and information centres have been visited by more than 195,000 people interested in the energy sector.
| Location | Power plant type | Launch date |
| Štěchovice | Flow-through and pumped-storage hydroelectric | 13 January, 10:00 a.m. |
| Temelín | Nuclear | 20 January, 10:00 a.m. |
| Janov | Wind | 27 January, 10:00 a.m. |
| Tušimice | Coal | 3 February, 10:00 a.m. |
| Hodonín | Biomass | 10 February, 10:00 a.m. |
| Číčov | Biogas station | 17 February, 10:00 a.m. |
| Buštěhrad | Photovoltaic | 24 February, 10:00 a.m. |
To enjoy a virtual tour of the Temelín NPP, please click at the following link:
