Temelín in Czechia generates the most electricity since the heat pipeline to České Budějovice went online

The Temelín nuclear power plant has been generating more electricity than ever since the heat pipeline supplying heat to České Budějovice went online last year. Cold weather and modernisation are helping. The right operating settings are also important, and the plant has been using artificial intelligence to determine them for several years. Higher output also coincides with a period of increased energy consumption, Temelín spokesman Marek Sviták said today.

The recently reconnected second unit is currently operating above 1100 MWe. The first unit, which supplies heat to České Budějovice, Týn nad Vltavou and the power plant as well as generating electricity, is producing more than 1090 MWe per hour.

„Our predictions are being confirmed: drawing steam from the turbine-generator sets to supply heat to České Budějovice has only a minimal impact on electricity generation. Even at full winter load, the heat pipeline affects output by no more than a few megawatts,” said Jan Kruml, director of the Temelín Nuclear Power Plant.

Heat deliveries depend on the outdoor temperature and consumption in České Budějovice. Based on this, energy workers adjust the temperature and volume of water flowing to the city. During its first year of operation, the Temelín heat pipeline covered about one third of heat deliveries to České Budějovice, supplying 663 terajoules (TJ), he added. Thanks to heat from Temelín, emissions from the České Budějovice heating plant, including greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, have fallen by about a third. The plant saves tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year by not burning coal, Sviták said.

Water currently flows to the city at a temperature of 120 degrees Celsius, with daily deliveries exceeding 3,5 TJ, Sviták said.

When Temelín began operating in 2000 and 2002, each unit had an output of 981 MWe. Modernisation has raised the average output of each generating unit to 1086 MWe. „We are making good use of the results of modernisation programmes focused both on using available reserves and improving the technology. But our goal is not to break records; our first priority is safe and stable generation,” said Bohdan Zronek, a member of the board and director of the nuclear energy division.

Since the beginning of the year, the Temelín power plant has generated 14 terawatt-hours of electricity. It generated 16 TWh over the whole of last year.