Underwater hydroelectric power plant in Rościno

The Rościno hydroelectric power plant was built in 1935-1936 in Germany according to the design of the German engineer Arno Fischer, using the original idea of hiding the entire power plant under water, it operated until 1944, and after the war until the 1950s. It was the world's first underwater power plant . The power plant was not destroyed during the war and the hydrotechnical equipment was operational. In the hydrotechnical sense, the Rościno Power Plant was a threshold damming water in the riverbed. The damming weir with an overflow part, a bottom outlet and a run-of-the-river power plant were placed in the widened river bed. The power plant operates without any retention option.

In the years 1973-1975, the power plant was modernized by Zakłady Energetyczne in Koszalin. Two prototype flow turbines designed by prof. Krzyżanowski from the University of Gdańsk, and the generators were placed under the turbines using drive transmission via V-belts. The obtained energy production, as an average value over the last many years, is 1000 MWh per year.

Another modernization was completed in 2014: The dam was a significant obstacle for fish. It hindered migration, among others. salmon to spawning grounds located upstream. The hydrotechnical part of the power plant has been completely rebuilt, received completely new equipment and operates in maintenance-free mode. A new fish ladder was also created.

The historic turbine came to Karlino thanks to the courtesy of ENERGA Hydro Sp. z o. o. and can be seen in front of the Regional Center for Tourism and Sports in Karlino.

A few kilometers down the Parsęta, near the current Karlino bypass, in the forest you can find the unfinished structure of a sister underwater power plant. After the modernization of the power plant in Rościn, this is the only place where you can see this interesting structure.

Technical data:

Turbine:

type: Kaplan
company: Escher Wyss
year of construction: 1935
German production
revolutions/minute: 250
structural system: tubular
installed power: 120 kW

Generator:

type: GD-12-250-50/02
company: Dolmel
weight: 2900 kg
generator voltage: 0.4 kV
excitation voltage: 0.05 kV
year of construction: 1975
Polish production
revolutions/minute: 500