Small Hydros: next stop – Chornoholova!

Uzhgorod private enterprise "Komertskonsalt" which has erected a small hydro power plant of 1.094 MW capacity on the outskirts of the village of Turya Polyana in Perechyn district intends shortly to take up the mountain rivers of Lyutyanka and Bystrica in the neighboring Velyky Berezny district.

Back in November last year, the information about these facilities worth about 20 million hryvnias and their detailed description was revealed, and in early February at the district state administration the meeting of the city building council was held.

The discussion of the approval of the documentation for the future power plant was quite lively, the participants asked a number of questions to the representatives of the "Komertskonsalt" company (the Deputy Director Yuri Korolyshyn, the lawyer Emilia Matola) and the project engineer of the Zakarpatahroproekt institute Volodymyr Zozulych. The main motif of the questions was the concern about the environmental safety of the construction and operation of small hydro power plants.

Yuri Korolyshyn elaborated on the "Komertskonsalt" company’s plan to build two plants on the outskirts of the village of Chornoholova.

– The project is quite interesting, it certainly will revitalize the local life, – the deputy director of the company said. The works will be carried around a year and a half, and locals will be able to take part in them. It is scheduled to build two autonomous small hydro power plants with capacity of 1 and 0.8 MW (one – on the Bystrica, another – on Lyutyanka). The capacity can be increased in the course of the operation. The technology is environmentally friendly, because pipes for water extraction for turbines will be buried in the ground to a depth of 3 meters, while residents of the region will receive a number of benefits.   The produced electric power will replenish the local grid stabilizing the voltage, which sometimes fluctuates dramatically.

From my own experience, Yuri Korolyshyn continued, I can say that the village of Turya Polyana in the neighboring Perechyn district was given considerable assistance in the repair of a dozen facilities, often we helped the village community by providing our equipment. So, the mutual benefit is obvious.    

 uzhgorod.in will be following the further developments with the construction of small hydro power plants, because this topic for Transcarpathia is quite controversial.