The Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station ( ro, Porțile de Fier I, sr, Ђердап I/Đerdap I) is the largest dam on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

river and one of the largest

hydro power Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

plants in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. It is located on the Iron Gate gorge, between

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. The Romanian side of the

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

produces approximately annually, while the Serbian side of the power station produces . The discrepancy in power output between the two halves is due to the generating equipment. While Romania's equipment is newer and thus more efficient (thereby generating more power), it is proving more unreliable; resulting in increased downtime for maintenance/repairs, and consequently lower annual power output overall.

History

The project started in 1964 as a joint-venture between the governments of

and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

for the construction of a major

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

on the Danube River which would serve both countries. At the time of completion in 1972, it was the 10th largest

hydroelectric power station Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

s in the world with twelve

Kaplan turbines Kaplan may refer to: Places * Kapłań, Poland * Kaplan, Louisiana, U.S. * Kaplan Medical Center, a hospital in Rehovot, Israel * Kaplan Street, in Tel Aviv, Israel * Mount Kaplan, Antarctica * Kaplan Arena, at the College of William & Mary in ...

generating , divided equally between the two countries at each.HE Djerdap (in Serbian)
The small inhabited island of

Ada Kaleh Ada Kaleh (; from tr, Adakale, meaning "Island Fortress"; hu, Újorsova or ; Serbian and Bulgarian: Адакале, ''Adakale'') was a small island on the Danube in what is modern Romania, that was submerged during the construction of the ...

was submerged during the construction.

Modernization

As the original turbines' 30 years lifespan came to an end, in 1998 the Romanian half of the dam started a program of modernization. As part of this program, the first of the turbines was stopped in 1999. By 2007 the program was completed and the Romanian half of the dam's operations were back to full capacity. The nominal capacity of each of the six units was increased from to , thus giving an installed capacity of and increasing the entire power generation capacity of the dam to at the time. On the Serbian part of the dam, modernization started in July 2008; so far . The units are being upgraded with the help of Russian company Power Machines from Saint Petersburg, as well as their subcontractors with the participation of eleven domestic companies. In addition to the upgrades, the Serbian side is planning on building a new, smaller power station, called Iron Gate III ( sr, Ђердап III/Đerdap III).

References

External links

Description
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges/Dams , place =

, bridge = Iron Gate I , upstream =

Kovin Bridge The Kovin Bridge is a road bridge in Serbia, across the Danube, between the cities of Kovin and Smederevo. See also * List of bridges in Serbia * List of crossings of the Danube This is a list of crossings of the Danube river, from its source ...

, downstream = Iron Gate II

Ostrovul Mare Bridge The Ostrovul Mare Bridge is a bridge in Romania over the of the Danube. It is intended for complementary access to the Ostrovu Mare Island and the Iron Gate II Hydroelectric Power Station, respectively to the local border crossing point between ...

---- '' Trajan's Bridge (historical)'' Dams in Romania Dams in Serbia Elektroprivreda Srbije Hydroelectric power stations in Romania Hydroelectric power stations in Serbia Romania–Serbia border crossings Romania–Yugoslavia relations