Fala HPP Museum

The construction of the Fala Hydroelectric Power Plant, the first hydro power plant on the Drava River, which was also the largest hydroelectric power plant in the eastern Alpine region, started in 1913. Until 1918, when the Fala Hydroelectric Power Plant began operation, the river's flow along its entire length was unimpeded. From an area rich in forests, a lumber rafting transport route flowed down the river through Podravje and Podonavje and onwards, towards the Black Sea. On 6 May 1918, the first three units of the Fala Hydroelectric Power Plant started operating, and then units 4 and 5 on 9 May and 23 May, respectively. Today, the Fala Hydroelectric Power Plant is the oldest hydro power plant on the Slovenian part of Drava, a link in the chain of eight hydro power plants on the Drava river, which are managed by the company Dravske elektrarne Maribor. Since the renovation at the end of the 1990s, it has been operating with three units and annual generates about 260 million kW of electricity. In 2008, on the basis of the decree of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, Fala HPP was declared a cultural monument of national significance. The non-operating, but originally preserved section of the hydro power plant is today a museum, which is interesting to visitors of all ages thanks to the original equipment and modern experiments presenting various ways of energy conversion.

Photo credits: Matjaž Wenzel