Mavrovo hydropower system with the three power plants: HPP Vrutok, HPP Raven, HPP Vrben and total accumulation of 275.000 m³ of water is one of the largest and most complex in the Macedonian power system.

The first phase of the construction of the System began in 1947, and ended after 13 years, in 1960. In 1952, the largest artificial lake in Macedonia, Mavrovo, began to fill. The waters that flow into the lake are collected from an area of over 500 km square from the mountainous massifs of Korab and Shar Planina. The water is transmitted with channels and pipelines over 130 km long. With the construction of the access structures, 167 km of access roads have been built for the maintenance of the system. In order to provide bigger quantities of electricity, the construction of the second phase of the system called Mavrovo 2. began. In this period, a system of channels “Sharski Vodi” was built, the construction of which began in 1969 and ended in 1977.

On May 27, 1957, the official day of the commencement of the work of HES “Mavrovo” was put into use by the then President of the SFRY, Josip Broz Tito, at a large national gathering in the village of Vrutok.

In 2014, one of the most demanding energy projects performed in the country was completed – realization of the second phase of the revitalization of hydroelectric plants owned by JSC ELEM. The project, worth 37,612,123.13 EUR, enabled the extension of the life cycle of hydropower plants and their accompanying buildings, as well as increasing their safety.

The benefits of the revitalization of the Mavrovo system are:

• the increase in the capacity of the Mavrovo accumulation for 32.55 million m³ of water with an additional capacity of 20 million m³ /year.
• Increased installed capacity for additional 18.58 MW or total installed capacity of 200 MW, as well as an increase in the annual production of electricity of 40 GWh / year or an increase in the total production up to 430 GWh for the three power plants.

Increased electricity production by 40 GWh per year means reduced emissions of 36.4 thousand tons of CO2.

HPP VRUTOK
HPP Vrutok is an accumulation hydroelectric unit with installed power of 41.4 MW per aggregate, or a total of 165.6 MW. The average annual production of electricity is 350 GWh, and the average annual flow is 278 million m3 of water.

HPP RAVEN
HPP Raven is a hydroelectric power plant with installed capacity of 7 MW per aggregate, or a total of 21 MW. The average annual production of electricity is 42 GWh.

HPP VRBEN
HPP Vrben is a power plant with installed capacity of 6.4 MW per aggregate, or a total of 12.8 MW. The average annual production of electricity is 38 GWh, and the average annual flow is 107.222.000 m³ of water.