Railway power plant Mittelsteine

Bahnkraftwerk Mittelsteine
Country
  • Poland
LocationMittelsteine, Lower Silesia
now Ścinawka Średnia, Poland
Coordinates50°30′57″N 16°29′48″E / 50.5158°N 16.496658°E / 50.5158; 16.496658
StatusDecommissioned
Construction began1912
Commission date1914
Decommission date1945

Bahnkraftwerk Mittelsteine was a former railway power station at Mittelsteine in Lower Silesia, then part of Germany and now Ścinawka Średnia in Poland.[1][2] It was built to supply traction current for the electrified railway network in Silesia and entered service in 1914.[1][2]

History

Construction of the power station began in 1912.[2][3] The site was chosen because of its railway connections, water supply and proximity to coal from the Neurode coal district.[3] According to local historical descriptions, the plant burned lower-grade coal from the Jan Baptysta mine at Słupiec.[3] The project was associated with a consortium of AEG and Siemens-Schuckertwerke.[3][4]

After later expansion, the station had a total electrical capacity of 32.4 MW, of which 24 MW was available as railway power.[3] The generated electricity was transmitted over an 80 kV railway transmission line about 124 km long to substations serving the Silesian electrified railway network.[3][4]

The Silesian railway power system was separate from the Central German railway power grid.[5] Railway power generation at Mittelsteine ended in 1945, and the electrical railway installations in Silesia were dismantled after the Second World War as Soviet reparations.[4][6]

Later use

The former power-station complex survived and was later reused for industrial purposes.[2][1] Local heritage descriptions identify the site with later industrial works, and ZETKAMA states that its foundry moved to Ścinawka Średnia in 1979.[3][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Plan Odnowy Miejscowości Ścinawka Średnia" (PDF) (in Polish). Gmina Radków. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d "Ścinawka Średnia – elektrownia" (in Polish). Polskie Towarzystwo Turystyczno-Krajoznawcze. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Fabryka armatury ZETKAMA (d. elektrownia kolejowa)" (in Polish). polska-org.pl. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b c Höhmann, Rüdiger (2002). Das Bahnkraftwerk Muldenstein. Verlag GVE. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Das Bahnstromnetz in Deutschland" (PDF) (in German). VDE. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  6. ^ "25 Jahre elektrische Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands – Das Bahnstromnetz" (PDF) (in German). VDE. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
  7. ^ "About us". ZETKAMA. Retrieved 11 March 2026.