The next dam on the Vistula River below Włocławek

Abstract

This paper presents reasons for a decision on construction of the dam on the Vistula River below Wloclawek. It includes a justification of the overriding public interest for this construction, the benefits that it will bring and a short description of the project. In addition the criteria for choosing the location are given and parameters of the Wloclawek and Siarzewo dams are compared. DOI: 10.12736/issn.2300-3022.2013307 The Vistula River (Wisla) below Wloclawek may be perceived as Europe’s last wonderful wild river or as a huge unused commodity which has been abandoned for some reason. The dispute between the supporters of each point of view is a dispute over values. Therefore, it is very difficult to reach a compromise. The supporters of the wild river idea are convinced that the natural state of river is actually a basic value and any human interference is unacceptable. This wildness should in their opinion be protected by all available means to be passed on to future generations in an intact condition. Those who see the Vistula River (Wisla) as an unused resource think that its economic potential should be used reasonably as soon as possible for the common good. Of course the way of developing a navigable river and benefitting from it does not mean the destruction of its natural values and this is possible at the current technical level. Until the partitions of Poland the Vistula River (Wisla) had constituted the economic axis of Poland and in the 17th century it was the most navigable European river. Annually more than 250 thousand tons of goods, mainly cereal, were transported along it. In the second half of the 17th century the significance of the Vistula River (Wisla) started to decrease. It gradually became a peripheral river. As we know the lower Vistula River (dolna Wisla) section from the mouth of the Drweca River (Drweca) to Gdansk fell under Prussian rule. At the end of the 19th century that section was regulated and the mouth section was completely reconstructed. The excavation of the new outlet (Przekop) eliminated the risk of floods which had been worrying Gdansk citizens for centuries, especially in spring, when ice starts to float. I cannot help feeling that today these investments would be impossible. The 19th century was an era of many important discoveries and inventions which completely changed the economic life. At the end of the 19th century the possibility of transforming energy of flowing water, usually dammed, into electric power appeared. The first hydroelectric power station in the world was established in 1882 in Appleton (USA) on the Fox River. It was developed to supply power to a paper factory. The first hydroelectric power station in Europe was established in the Godalming tannery in England (1881). It was constructed to supply power for street and home lighting. The first large hydroelectric power station was opened in Deptford, a London district, in 1889. In Poland in the interwar period 12 hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of 18 MW operated. Before World War II the largest hydroelectric power station in Poland with the capacity of 4 MW was in Grodek on the Wda River (Wda). It was constructed to supply energy to the dynamically developing town of Gdynia. After World War II Poland gained more than a dozen hydroelectric plants in the western parts of the country, among others in Pilchowice and Dychow on the Bobr River (Bobr). In 1946 the total capacity of Polish power stations came to 160 MW. In the 1960s large hydroelectric power stations were constructed in Solina, Wloclawek and Koronowo. Lower Vistula River – current state The theoretical energy potential of Polish rivers is estimated at approx. 23 TWh/year. However, only 12–14 TWh/year may be used due to technical reasons. Use of 8–8.5 TWh/year is economically justified. This potential is unequally distributed. Approx. 80% is on the Vistula River (Wisla) and approx. 50% of the whole energy potential is on the lower Vistula River (dolna Wisla). In Poland only 11% of energy potential of watercourses is used which puts us in last place in Europe. Plans of energy use of the Vistula River (Wisla) date at the beginning of 20th century. However, only in 1945 did T. Tillinger present the first concept of using the Vistula River (Wisla) energy potential. It was a bold project developed by an eminent Polish hydroengineer. He included in it his thoughts from the period when he had been developing designs of artificial waterways, regulation of the Vistula River (Wisla), canalling of the Bug River (Bug) and J. Granatowicz | Acta Energetica 3/16 (2013) | 99–105