The state-owned Povodi Ohre company, which manages waterways and dams in the northwestern Bohemia region of the Czech Republic, intends to invest US$5.8M this year. This amounts to US$0.5M less than had already been planned.
The CTK’s news agency’s Business News said the company will begin 28 hydro projects this year worth US$3M.The most important investment protect will be the construction of a small 750kW hydroelectric station at the Skalka dam near Cheb, which will cost US$0.6M. Another U$0.5M will be spent on reconstructing the dam’s spillways.
Povodi Ohre currently operates 15 hydroelectric power stations, and these earn the company revenues equivalent to 10% of its annual US$17.5M sales revenue.
The construction of a new hydro plant is a priority for Povodi Ohre because it wants to increase earnings from electricity sales in order to compensate for falling revenues from declining water consumption.
The company’s power stations supply 80MW of electricity a year. A substantial amount of this electricity (60MW) is supplied by a single hydro plant, Nechranice.