THE MAJOR electricity producer Slovenské Elektrárne is continuing its construction of small power stations based on renewable energy sources (RES) in the High Tatras. Within the Ecologisation of Mountain Chalets project, it has already invested €110,000 into construction of solar or small hydro-power plants, the SITA newswire wrote.
Operators of the chalets and tourists praise the so-far five years of cooperation with SE.
“The total saving of 25.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions is not an astonishing volume, but for the fragile Alpine eco-system this is a significant reduction of the burden caused by operation of our chalets,” said Peter Perhala, chairman of the Club of Slovak Tourists, as cited in a SE press release. “Another benefit is a higher comfort and security of the personnel and visitors of the chalets, as well as conditions for the operations of mountain rescuers.”
SE’s projects include the renewal of a small hydropower station near the Chata pri Zelenom Plese (Chalet at the Green Mountain Lake), also called Brnčalka, with an installed capacity of 13 MW. It replaced a diesel engine used at the chalet for electricity production. In the summer SE installed the second turbine in this plat. SE also invested in 30 new photovoltaic panels with an installed capacity of 9 MW.
Zbojnícka Chalet also has a solar power station with the capacity of 5 MW. The company has installed 10 photovoltaic panels with the capacity of 3 MW at the chalet below Rysy peak.
