Čeňkova pila
(Cenek´s Saw-mill)

Enjoy a virtual tour of Čeňkova Pila Hydro Power Station

In the place previously used to float timber to Dlouhá Ves, where it was then tied into rafts, an important Prague entrepreneur Čeněk Bubeníček founded a saw-mill and a lumber-yard in the middle of the 19th century. In 1908, the saw-mill was modernized and three water wheels were installed there. Two wheels ran two types of frame saws for processing various types of timber , the third was used for running wood-working machinery. When the town of Kašperské Hory became the owner of the whole facility, it applied to Sušice district office for a permission to build a power plant.

The order for the project and supply of power-related machinery was placed with Brown-Boweri Wien company. The power-related parts of the machinery unit, such as the generator with the output of 96 kW, automatic voltage control, or the overvoltage protection, were very advanced for the time. The plant generator unit consisted of a Francis horizontal turbine with the output of 125 h.p. constructed by the J. M. Voigt AG company.  The entire power plant, where water is steered through an open diversion channel changing into a water-conduit bridge ca 50 m before the building, is registered as a listed building by the Ministry of Culture CR. Any alterations to the channel upstream water-way, the building or the technological equipment must be approved by the authorities for the care of historical monuments.