Published: 7. 3. 2024

The Queen of Beskydy no longer has to worry about electricity supply. ČEZ Distribuce has completed the replacement of the non-functioning cable from Krásná to the top of Lysá hora, which will secure the existing supply through the Ostravice line. The meteorological station, the television transmitter, the mountain service station, Bezručova chata, and Emil Zátopek’s chalets – Maraton and Desítka no longer have to worry about being without power.

“It was an extremely challenging task that was beyond anything we normally do. Mainly because in some places we had to overcome even 50% of the climb and drill deep into the rock,” explained Jiří Masařík from ČEZ Distribuce.

A 6200-metre-long primary cable now runs from Krásná to Lysá hora. The agreement with the Czech Forests was crucial in its laying. The power engineers had to comply with all their requirements under strict supervision, including ensuring the cleanliness of the roads around which the cable runs. They are often used by cyclists, so the state enterprise required that they remain clean during construction and that no injuries could occur.

“This has led to some curious situations, for example, when the contractor did not get a company to drive a cleaning truck into the mountainous terrain. So they bought a special attachment for their own tractor and cleaned the road themselves to prevent any cyclist from falling on the dust from the excavation. They had to change the brush on it maybe four times during the contract,” Radim Blažek from ČEZ Distribuce, who was in charge of the construction, describes the extreme conditions.

The project was also time-consuming – the contractor was selected in July 2022 and the actual construction took place after the snow melted in spring 2023 until autumn. “It actually started in November 2022, when I agreed with the Czech Forests that we would cut the road in the places where we had to cross it before the first snow. Then the building was preserved,” Roman Plaček from ČEZ Distribuce described the peripeties. In the spring – while the vegetation was still dormant – it was time to cut down the trees above the former cable and from May onwards work began in earnest. In some places with the highest elevations, the contractor had to lay special armoured cable that was custom-made for this job.

Now the new power line, which cost CZK 40 million to build, is ready to fully replace the current power supply in the event of an outage and provide electricity for meteorologists, TV viewers and tourists.

Full press release here