Slovakia tests 'green' hydropower plant

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BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A new "green" hydropower plant in Dobrohost is undergoing trial operations in southern Slovakia.

The Dobrohost facility will be put through field trials through March 16, 2012.

The state-run water management company Vodohospodarska Vystavba is in charge of supervising the Dobrohost facility's testing.

Government scientists estimate that, on an annual basis, the Dobrohost facility will preserve the environment from carbon dioxide emissions and solid waste that would be created by burning about 40,000 tons of brown coal.

The Dobrohost hydropower plant operates in a fully automated and unattended mode. Dobrohost is capable of supplying 1.55 megawatts of "green" electrical energy to the national power grid, providing a potential yearly production of about 11.8 million kilowatt hours worth nearly $1.56 million a year, SITA press agency reported Friday.

The Ministry of Environment said in a statement, "Dobrohost will prove the priority of small water power plants in utilizing the Danube system's water resources."

The Dobrohost turbine was manufactured in Austria, with the remainder of the hydroelectric facilities being produced in the Czech Republic.