THE IRON GATES I HYDROPOWER PLANT MUSEUM was opened in 1976, four years after the inauguration of the Iron Gates I Hydropower and Navigation System ? May 16, 1972.
The grandiose objective of the Iron Gates I is the most important achievement of the Romanian hydropower, contributing not only to obtaining a production of over 6 billion KWh/year (the Romanian part), but also to solving the problem of river navigation through the Danube Gorge. The inauguration of the construction site at the Iron Gates Hydropower and Navigation System took place on September 7, 1964 and was commissioned on may 16, 1972.
In the Turbine Hall you can see 6 Kaplan turbines, with an installed power of each of them of 194.5 MW, the weight of a turbine is 3,680 tons. The turbine shaft is 16 m long and 71.5 revolutions per minute. At the lower end of it is the hub with 6 blades (20 tons / palla). The rotor of the generator has 600 tons and a diameter of 14 m. The average water drop is 27.5 m and the flow rate required for each turbine is 800 mc/s. The current produced by the turbines passes to the 6 voltage-raising transformers, then it is transmitted to the 220 KV connection stations. and 400 KV.
The iron gates I hydropower plant is the largest in Romania. It is one of the largest hydrotechnical constructions in Europe and the largest on the Danube.