A contract to rehabilitate hydro power plant equipment for the Tiszaloek station in Hungary has been awarded to a consortium of Voith Siemens Hydro in St. Poelten, Austria, and Siemens Budapest by owner and operator Tiszaviz Vizeroemue KFT.

Voith Siemens Hydro is undertaking rehabilitation and modernisation of the three vertical Kaplan turbines at Tiszaloek, each with a runner diameter of 4.8m and an output of 4.5MW. The installed capacity of the power units, commissioned back in 1956 through 1959, will be raised by 10%. All three units shall be re-commissioned until 2010.

The fifty-year-old hydro power plant is located on the Tisza river. At the time of its construction, the project did not only aim to generate energy, but also served as the first installation on Tisza river to capture the river to create a reservoir to help water storage for agricultural irrigation.