Klaipėda power plant

The first Klaipėda Central Power Plant was built in 1900 and supplied power to the city lighting and the tramway network, established in 1904 (the only one in Lithuania). The power plant was located in the middle of the main tramway line Railway Station–Smeltė Neighbourhood, on Pauliaus Street, in the territory of the modern-day AB Baltija shipyard. The power of the plant was 900 kW and it supplied power only to the southern part of the city and Smiltynė. Differently from other Lithuanian cities, Klaipėda Power Plant was built for industrial needs – electricity was started to be used for city lighting only later. It became clear that the old power plant won’t be able to satisfy the quickly increasing need for power already in 1925, so it was decided to build a new Thermal Power Plant near Dangė river, in the north-eastern part of the city. The location was convenient both for construction and operation of the future power plant: the construction materials, equipment and later – fuel – were supplied to the site by Dangė river and the river also supplied fresh power and cooling water – there was no need to build large and expensive water supply and release channels. The location also had a city industrial railway access. However, there was one big disadvantage: the soil was very watery, so it was decided to pile poles, cover them with a solid concrete slab and build the power plant on top. The construction of the new power plant began on 7 June 1928 with 20 thousand metres of wooden poles piled in the 2.5 ha area. The concrete pouring works were followed by building a boiler house, a machine hall, a circulation water pumping station and a water supply treatment room, a closed power switchroom, an office, warehouses, domestic premises and control panel, as well as a 88.7 m high chimney. The construction of the power plant was followed by building a high voltage network and 12 transformer substations in the city. The planning, construction and installation of the power plant and high voltage network was implemented by EAG Frankfurt am Main Company, while the hired workers were local people from Klaipėda region. The construction costed 8.5 million litas. The power plant was launched on 17 June 1929. At the end of the World War II, as the Red Army was approaching Lithuania in January 1945, German troops dismantled and took the majority of the equipment with them and destroyed what they couldn’t take with explosives. Both of the chimneys were exploded, hoping that the falling constructions would damage the buildings and the equipment inside. Measuring equipment and the rest was destroyed by hammering. The Thermal Power Plant, rebuilt after the war, successfully continues to operate to this day. As of 1998 the company has been supplying power only to Klaipėda and Gargždai citizens. In 2000 the company was reorganised as a joint stock company and is currently referred to as AB Klaipėdos Energija.