Professional paper
Summary: The electrification of the island of Krk after the Second World War
Božo Frgačić - Tomić
Abstract
The elecrification of the island began in 1948 when electricity was made available to some villages which were using their own small power stations. But the turning point was 1953, when the local authorities made three important decisions. First, to continue electrification and encourage it; second, to link villages, wherever possible, to a single power line; third, to find a possibility to link the island with the electrification system of Croatia by means of an underwater cable. To understand this electrification activity better we have to remember that only six villages, with about 36 per cent of the population of the island of Krk, were supplied with electricity after the Second World War. There are 72 villages on the Island, however, and they are all supplied with electricity today. To accomplish this it was necessary to lay 800 meters of underwater cable to link the island with the mainland, to build 130 km of high voltage power lines, to erect over 100 transformers and a wide network system for lighting purposes. The value of these installations is several million dinars. The people of Krk, those living on Krk and all over Yugoslavia and also in the United States of America, contributed more than 50 per cent of the costs. Their contribution was in foreign currency, for cables, and in voluntary labour. Many firms from Rijeka and Zagreb provided financial aid. But the biggest support came from the Krk Municipality and from Elektroprimorje, a firm from Rijeka. Today the electric light has replaced the oil lamp even in the most distant households and so provided necessary conditions for the development of culture, economy and turism. The island's consumption of electricity increased 24 times, or from 360 kwh in 1959 to over 8 million kwh in 1968. The electrification was successfully accomplished largely owing to the activity of the people of Krk. The next step should be to use these human and material resources to solve the problem of walter supply and in reconstructing and asphalting roads. They are just being finalized and should receive wide support, as was the case with electrification.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
324412
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2024.
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