The cascade is one of the biggest and the most significant technical monuments of Slovakia.

Construction of the power plant had started before the First World War and was finished in 1925. The plant started to run three years after finishing in 1928. Electricity was needed for production of metallurgy company Železiarne Podbrezová. The hydro-electric plant consists of the system of hydraulic structures along the small river Jasenica near the village Predajná.

From mountains to the underground

The most interesting building of the complex is accumulation water reservoir Rígeľ, which is in the height of 730 m.a.s.l., about 200 metres above the power plant Jasenie. In the basement of the reservoir are three big chambers up to 10 metres deep.

Water from the valleys of the Low Tatras is brought by the underground system of long mining tunnels together with the system of smaller canals, which bring water from other surrounding creeks. Two big tunnels lead water to the reservoir through dams Bauková and Lomnistá. The system of tunnels was made by underground dynamite stamping. Its construction was very difficult, but the system proved to be very resilient as there were no repairs until today.

If turbines of the power plant are out of service or the water reservoir is full, waterflow is redirected out of the complex to the valley.

Indestructible contruction

The hydro-electric plant is working almost one-hundred years. At the end of the Second World, The Nazis tried to destroy the complex, but there was just little damage left on the concrete construction, which was made to keep about 9000 cubic metres of the water. Robust metal pipes leading from the reservoir to the power plant were also almost without a sign of any damage.