Magyar Hírek, 1985 (38. évfolyam, 2-26. szám)

1985-07-06 / 14. szám

The Waterstep System of Bős (Gabcikovo) — Nagymaros Keeping in style, the headquar­ters of the National Water Con­servancy Board is at a stone's throw from the Danube. Be it chance or choice, the encounter is in any case fortunate, since when it comes to water every road leads here in Hun­gary. Béla Bencsik is doubly familiar with the subject of the Bős (Gab­cikovo)—Nagymaros waterstep sys­tem. He has been in close contact with the project as head of the river control department of the National Water Conservancy Office on the one hand, and on the other he was given further responsible tasks as the head of an inter-departmental committee. He answered my ques­tions. “I am deeply interested in the construction of the Bős (Gabciko­vo)—Nagymaros Waterstep system aimed at the utilization of the energy of the waters of the Dan­ube. What is the essence of this undertaking?” “The section of the river between Rajka and the mouth of the Ipoly forms the border between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Under the terms of an agreement the two countries are jointly responsible for the maintenance of the navigable channel, flood control and the regu­lation of the River Danube. They have for about the last thirty years engaged in the exploration of fur­ther opportunities of utilization. Particular attention is given every­where to the utilization of hydrau­lic energy. A whole chain of power­­plants generate electric power along the Austrian section of the Danube and they are planning even further ones. South of Hungary the Iron Gate power-plant was constructed jointly by Yugoslavia and Rumania, and the adjoining No. II power­­plant is now under construction. Several dozen power-plants were also built along the tributaries of the Danube, and the construction of further ones is planned. Rivers are inexpensive sources of energy continuously replenished by the natural circulation of water, while reserves of other sources of energy are finite and increasingly more expensive. The system of water steps consists of two parts: the power-plants of Bős (Gabcikovo) and Nagymaros. The dam that will chan­nel the water to the Bős power-plant through a sidechannel will be built in the Dunakiliti district of the Szi­getköz. A water-storage area will be formed up-river from the dam. This will store the daily water-yield of the river, the continuously arriving energy, which concentration will be allowed to pass through the turbines of the power-plant in the evening hours generating particularly valu­able peak energy during the peak period of consumption. Naturally, suitable water level and depth will be needed even in the storing period below the Bős power-plant, therefore care will also have to be taken to dam up this section of the river. This is the pur­pose of the Nagymaros dam, which will even the waterflow of the low­er section of the Danube with its continuously operating power-plant. Thus the Bős (Gabcikovo)—Nagy­maros waterstep system will form an integrated technical system yield­ing an average of 3,600 m. kilowatt­­hour energy. About 600,000 tonnes of oil or 2 m tonnes of coal would be necessary to produce that much en­ergy. Building the waterstep system is also useful from several other rea­sons besides producing energy. It will greatly improve flood control all along the Danube. This is of par­ticular importance to the towns of Esztergom, Komárom and Győr, and to the Szigetköz. Damming up the river will do away with the limita­tions to shipping, and all the nar­rowings and shallows which exist in abundance under the present condi­tions. Due to the reduction in the speed of the flow, the introduction of two-way shipping at night and the elimination of shTpping stand­­downs forced by low water levels of the river, useful shipping time will increase by some 40 per cent and the cargo capacity of the pool of ships will become more utilizable. Even the Rajka—Gönyü section of Jhe river, which is currently con­sidered rather hazardous, will be­come an international water way corresponding to the parameters re­commended by the Danube Commit­tee. Further advantages of the project are that the banks of the river will be put in order, the basic establish­ments of the regulated water man­agement of the region relying on the Danube will be modernized in the region of the power station system, safe reserves of water will be held in the dammed up region, and the water management conditions of district and town development will be raised to a higher standard.” “This sounds rather encouraging, yet the question still arises: are the expected advantages proportionate with the costs? In plain language: is the project economical?” “Let us consider first the two power stations. It is evident that the energetics portion of these cannot be debited with higher costs than those that would be needed to build power stations of similar output. In other words, this means that the hydroelectric power station is no more expensive than other kinds. Add to this that the power stations at Bős and Nagymaros will have no fuel costs, and their lifetime is ex­pected to be three to four times longer than that of a thermal power station. In connection with the other objectives to be realized by way of this project it is clearly proven that The waterstep system their attainment will cost 10 to 12 per cent less all along the river above Budapest than if accom­plished in other, traditional ways.” “I also should like to enquire about the environmental effects of the waterstep system. I am sure that you also consider that such a project and its environment are in the closest inter-relation ...” “Naturally, and I may add: just like all of the other authorities. The National Council for the Protection of Environment and Natural Features commissioned a complex study of the effects on the environment. In the wake of that a decision of gov­ernment organizations concerned obliged scientists and engineers to examine the technical and ecological characteristics of the project as a complete system and in their inter­action, with particular attention to the relevant risk factors.” “Does that mean that these aspects were not taken into account in the preparatory stage of the project? That the planners failed to analyse for instance the probable effect the waterstep will have on the flora and fauna of the region, and on the situ­ation of its towns and villages?” “Nothing of the sort. Maximal protection of the natural environ­ment has been a prime rule of the preparatory work from the beginning of planning. We kept ourselves to stricter standards during the sixties and seventies that were in force whenever various alternatives were considered and chosen. The necessity of this was also confirmed by the inter-state agreement signed in 1977. Almost one hundred studies, ana­lyses examined the technical, eco­nomic, ecological, social, legal and political connections of the project.” “Then why are still further en­quiries necessary after the start of the construction to survey the prob­able effects of the system of water­­steps?” “Preparation of the project began almost thirty years ago. The requirements, which in the meantime became general require­ments of environment protection emerged only in the forms of guesses in a number of fields during the first phase of the planning. In the meantime our experience also grew. Complex utilization of the river, the exploitation of the purest source of energy, that is hydraulic power, began considerably earlier at the upper and lower reaches of the Danube beyond our borders. The present comparison of theory and practice does, therefore increase the guarantee of reaching the best pos­sible results.’" “Yet there still could be people who think that a series of enquiries, analyses have to be carried out or repeated now because of shortcom­ings and weaknesses of the prepara­tory work.. “What I can tell them is that in most of the cases the complex exam­ination of environmental effects does not mean the necessity of new exam­inations, but a critical survey, reas­sessment and comparison of the ear­lier findings and concepts. By the summing up of results, the considera­tion of multidirectional inter-ac­tions, and by including these in a comprehensive study the experts es­tablish a synthesis of the environ­mental, natural and social effects of the project. As far as I know, such a multificated study of the effects concerning a great water project has never before been carried out.” “What are the principal questions to which the experts seek an an­swer?” “Compilers of the study want to find out first of all whether the project is in harmony with the en­vironment protection standards of our time. They also want to make sure that various elements of the system of water steps suitably re­duce, indeed completely prevent un­desirable effects: whether a possible reworking of plans is necessary, and how various sections utilise the pros­pects offered by the project even better ? In the exploration of the complete system of effects of the waterstep system and the environmental ele­ments particular attention is given to the examination of the quality of water, the water supply of the re­gion, and the safeguarding of the water stored in the gravel-stratum under the plain in Northwestern Hungary. They also enquire into the expected effects of the operation of the hydroelectric power stations, in­to the regulation of the subsoil wa­ter-table and of the practical opera­tion of the seeping system, methods of increasing agricultural and for­estry production, and biological, soil and technical questions of the forests of the flood-plain and area develop­ment problems related to the project. Evaluation extending to the sum of the environmental effects will there­fore determined by a vast number of answers.” “How far did the experts working on the solution of this task progress and when are they expected to finish the enquiry?” “The first phase of the enquiry into the effects of the system of watersteps closed early this year. The studyplan of country planning is finished and so is the analysis summing up the present and ex­pected prospects of the exploitation of the shore-seeped water resources. The management body of the Na­tional Office for Water Conservation also surveyed medium, and long­term ideas of the water management of the whole area and defined the directions of development. Comple­tion of the whole study is expected by the end of this year.” IMRE DOSZTANYI 29

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