Energy company launches tender for hydro plant control upgrade
Tender seeks modern control and automation systems for a small hydro plant, aimed at boosting reliability, remote operation and technical safety performance.
Tender seeks modern control and automation systems for a small hydro plant, aimed at boosting reliability, remote operation and technical safety performance.
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Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. is going to market for a targeted upgrade of the control, automation and protection systems at the Small Hydroelectric Power Plant Veľké Kozmálovce. The work aims to lift reliability, enable more robust remote operation and strengthen technical safety around fault management, underlining how even smaller hydro assets are being brought up to modern operational standards.
On 9th June 2026, Slovenské elektrárne, a.s. published a contract notice for Hydroelectric Power Plant Modernization, focusing on the Small Hydroelectric Power Plant Veľké Kozmálovce.
The notice sets out a project to modernise the plant's control system and automation, enhance reliability and remote operation, and modify protections to ensure technical safety and improve fault management. In essence, the buyer wants a refreshed operational backbone that can run the plant more consistently and deal with problems more effectively.
Control systems and automation sit at the heart of any power plant. They coordinate equipment, respond to changing conditions and provide operators with the information they need to make decisions. By concentrating investment in this layer, the Veľké Kozmálovce project focuses on how the existing plant is monitored, controlled and protected.
The reference to protections is particularly notable. Protection systems detect abnormal conditions and trigger actions that keep equipment and people safe. Updating these protections as part of the same package as the control and automation upgrade should allow the plant's response to faults to be aligned with its day-to-day operating logic.
The project description highlights three clear outcomes the buyer wants to achieve at Veľké Kozmálovce:
Reliability is an obvious priority for a generating asset, but placing it alongside remote operation and protection in a short brief is telling. It points to a desire for coherent systems in which control logic, remote access and safety functions are designed together rather than as separate add-ons.
The focus on remote operation suggests the buyer wants the plant to be run and supervised more effectively from off site. That places a premium on clear status information, robust communications between the plant and control locations, and automation schemes that can respond quickly without always needing local manual intervention.
Technical safety and fault management complete the picture. When incidents occur, the upgraded protections and automation should work together to isolate problems, protect equipment and return the plant to service as quickly as the situation allows. For suppliers, this points to a need for solutions that treat control, monitoring and protection as parts of the same system rather than separate disciplines.
The Veľké Kozmálovce scheme is part of a wider pattern of hydropower operators investing in modern automation and control. In February 2026, SPEEH HIDROELECTRICA SA went to market with a contract for Modernization of Hydroelectric Systems on the Olt Superior Hydroelectric Power Plants. That project covers upgrades to automation, protection, general services and security systems, together with the installation of a range of electrical systems and equipment.
In March 2026, Povodí Vltavy, státní podnik published a notice for MVE Vraňany Reconstruction, involving the reconstruction and modernisation of a small hydropower plant's technological equipment and the implementation of a new provisional closure for its inlet channel. Here, attention is on reconstruction and modernisation of technological equipment at an existing small plant.
Major hydro operators are following a similar path. In March 2026, EDF SA released a contract notice for Control System Renovation at the Gerstheim plant. The work includes renovation of the control system, the supply of high-power electrical installations and control systems as part of the Modernization and Standardization of Hydraulics project, and addresses various components, automation and control room upgrades.
Routine inspection work is also being shaped by this focus on technical systems. On 9th June 2026, Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie issued a contract notice for an Inspection of Klimkówka Hydroelectric Unit, covering inspection and evaluation of the technical condition of machines and installations at the Klimkówka Hydroelectric Power Plant, along with the necessary maintenance and repair work. The notice specifies the need for qualified personnel with specialised knowledge, emphasising how complex hydro installations have become.
Taken together, these contracts show a sustained programme of work on the systems that allow hydro plants to operate safely, flexibly and with minimal disruption. The Veľké Kozmálovce project fits neatly into that pattern, although at a smaller scale.
Similar themes are visible in the wider electricity system. In January 2026, COMPANIA NATIONALA DE TRANSPORT AL ENERGIEI ELECTRICE "TRANSELECTRICA" S.A. - STT Cluj-Napoca launched a tender for Modernization of Sălaj Substation System. That project involves establishing a new command-control-protection system at the Sălaj electrical substation, ensuring compliance with NTI TEL standards and including the construction and installation of necessary equipment.
On the distribution side, PGE Dystrybucja S.A. published a Power Station Modernization notice in December 2025 for the 110/15 kV RPZ-9 Białystok power station. The scheme requires specific employment conditions and compliance with technical standards, and forms part of a larger initiative funded by the European Fund for Eastern Poland.
Individual facilities are also strengthening their electrical backbones. In June 2026, Białostockie Centrum Onkologii im. M. Skłodowskiej-Curie w Białymstoku released a Power Supply Modernization Project covering the design and implementation of modernisation works for the electric power supply system at transformer station ST-2, including a SCADA-based energy monitoring system. And in April 2026, Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne Spółka Akcyjna advertised a contract for Power Supply Systems Modernization, divided into six packages and covering modernisation of power supply systems for telecommunications and IT devices, with scope for equivalent solutions and specified subcontracting requirements.
Outside the energy sector, comparable ideas are showing up in water infrastructure. In May 2026, Gmina Cegłów issued a contract notice for Water Supply System Modernization, combining replacement of water meters and network upgrades with the implementation of an intelligent management system and integrated IT solutions.
Across these projects, buyers are pairing traditional construction and electrical work with renewed interest in how assets are monitored, controlled and protected. The Veľké Kozmálovce plant sits within that same shift towards more visible, manageable and resilient infrastructure.
For Slovenské elektrárne, a.s., the Veľké Kozmálovce upgrade is a focused intervention in the electronic and automation layer of a single small hydro plant. The contract notice makes clear that success will be measured in more reliable running, stronger remote operation and more effective responses to faults.
Observers will now be watching how the buyer translates those aims into detailed technical specifications and, in time, into an implemented solution on site. Further notices covering similar upgrades at other plants or assets would show how far this approach to control, automation and protection is being rolled out across its operations.
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