2024-08-12 23:37:07
They block the river with a wall of locks for ships, 24 turbines make electricity
The Danube River – from “Iron Gate” to Nikopol and Turnu Magurele, becomes a huge dam. Its level rises by 4 meters along the entire length of 250-260 km, which will allow large ships to enter and navigation to be year-round. This will happen if the river is blocked from bank to bank near Nikopol – Turnu Magurele with a wall 15-20 meters wide. There will be sluices in it that will allow ships, fish, and two gates to be built.
The hydrotechnical complex “Turnu Magurele – Nikopol”
resurrected after over 34 years of lull
NEC with its partner from the Romanian side “Hydroelectricity” renewed it and presented it to the EC.
On July 31, the Bulgarian company announced that the hydrotechnical complex “Turnu Magurele – Nikopol” was offered the status of a cross-border project with possibilities for European financing. The final approval of the list by the Council of Europe and the European Parliament is pending. This is supposed to take 2 months.
The project is one of three approved for the whole of Europe in 2024. Its inclusion in the list opens up opportunities for support through the Connecting Europe Facility, NEC commented. It is divided into two parts – the first is a reservoir, and the second – hydrotechnical facilities. A river wall is being built to raise the level by 4-5 meters from Nikopol upstream to the border.
This will allow the buoyancy of the Danube to be controlled at the rate at which water is released through the wall. Since there is a difference in the height of the coastline on the Bulgarian and Romanian sides, dikes will have to be built in some places.
There will be locks in the wall for the movement of ships on the river. These will be a kind of water highways – the Bulgarian part is for vessels moving towards the Black Sea, the Romanian part is upstream.
There will also be fish passage and sediment passage in the wall to prevent silting. The facility is staggered to artificially slow the movement of water.
24 turbines are planned in the river, 12 each in the Bulgarian and Romanian parts. These are
the two channel vessels with a total power of 840 megawatts,
making 420 for each. The water passes through the turbines, turns them and makes electricity.
The idea for this grandiose project dates back to 1956. It gained density in the 70s, when there were technical and work projects, the first sod was broken in 1977, some facilities were even built. The project is now important again because it will be able to ensure constant electricity production. However, it is expensive – for approximately 10 years, it was estimated at 980 million euros.
Probably now this amount is many times more, experts comment. But in addition to the production of electricity, the North will be connected to the Black Sea, and the conditions for the movement of goods and cargo from Western to Eastern Europe, from Moldova, Ukraine and the Middle East will significantly improve.
If finally approved, funding will most likely be applied for first feasibility studies and design studies. Since “Turnu Magurele – Nikopol” is already a developed project, the studies will take a maximum of 2 years. At the end, the design study should provide all the documents that lead to a building permit. We have stated before the EU that the protection of the environment is of primary importance, says NEK.
The hydrocoplex is intended to use the latest technology and has served as an international example of innovation and construction standards.
However, there is no construction of a highway and railway on the wall, as in the first project. NEK comments that over the years there have been
many ideas – for a road connection between the two countries
with two lanes in one direction, for a railway line, for a gas connection. The company states that they can only talk about the technical equipment and the energy part. But it would not be surprising if the design study says that a road link would be profitable. But this is a decision for both countries to make, as well as for a cross-border cable to connect the two power systems.
8 ideas have been approved, most of them for offshore wind power
A total of 5 projects have been approved in 2022 and 2023, some have already been financed
The list of cross-border renewable energy projects under the Connecting Europe Facility for Energy was launched for the first time in August 2022. It already has eight shortlisted for 2024.
They are eligible for financial support for research and work under the Energy Program of the Connecting Europe Facility.
They also enjoy greater visibility, increased certainty for investors and stronger support from Member States. Some of the projects have already received funding in 2023 and 2024, the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and the Environment said in a statement
A hybrid offshore wind farm project between Estonia and Latvia and a cross-border RES-based district heating network between Germany and Poland have been approved.
Italy, Spain and Germany will make electricity from renewable sources, money will also be given for conversion, transport and use of pure hydrogen in the Netherlands and Germany. Financing is also available for an offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Riga, in Estonian sea waters. A wind farm will also be built in the northern part of Latvia and the southern part of Estonia. New generation turbines with joint connection to the transmission grid in Latvia will be made there.
It is noteworthy that not a few of the projects are for offshore wind farms, which require large investments. They have been accepted for funding from the Connecting Europe Facility. Bulgaria does not apply for such projects in order to reduce the risk for investors. In our country, the deputies set out to implement offshore wind energy with a special law. It provided for investors to be provided with contracts for difference, that is, to cover the difference between the price of electricity on the exchange and their production, if it is more expensive. Which, however, will burden the pocket of the state and consumers.