Kelenföldi Erőmű
THE ABANDONED POWER PLANT IN HUNGARY
Because of the electrification program of the city of Budapest, the production of electricity started here at Kelenföldi Erőmű in June 1914. The buildings I visited were designed and built by Kálmán Reichl and Virgil Borbíró between 1927 and 1929.
During the first years of operation, the Budapest power plant generated steam in coal-fired low-pressure boilers, and produced electricity in two turbogenerator units. Between 1922 and 1943, the power plant installed new steam boilers and turbines during two extension phases.
Just before the Second World War, the power plant operated 19 boilers and 8 turbines at 38 bar steam pressure. Most of the equipment was state-of-the-art and made by Hungarian manufacturers.
Between 1962 and 1972, the power plant underwent significant changes to meet heat supply demands. The former condensing technology was replaced by back pressure and heating turbines, and district heating reliability improved with hot water boilers. Additionally, natural gas gradually replaced coal and heavy oil firing.
Today they are protected by law, which means they’ll never be demolished, but left to slowly decay. This part of the Kelenföldi Erőmű, which was officially shut down in 2005, isn’t technically abandoned, several apocalyptic movie scenes and music videos have been filmed at Kelenföld. The art deco control room and the old transformer houses are, however, strictly closed to the public. I visited the site in 2015. Also check my report of this other Budapest power plant.
