© MYHΣ 2025. All rights reserved.

Project
History
Architecture
Idea

Project

The building as a machine. Water rises by overflow into the elevated tank and from there falls onto the turbines.
Source: Archive of A. Vazakas – M. Mandalakis

The Small Hydroelectric Power Plant (SHPP) along with the artificial lake of Agia in Chania form a unified technological project of the 20th century. It was a groundbreaking achievement for its time, serving as a brilliant example of harnessing water resources and Renewable Energy Sources in Greece.

The station utilizes a 4-meter elevation difference from the artificial lake's water level. Water from the lake flows toward the SHPP, passing through a 435-meter-long earthen dam and then through a closed concrete pipeline (penstock) that is 490 meters long and 2.5 meters in diameter. From there, some of the water is directed into a small stream (tailrace channel) via a metal sluice gate, while the rest is pumped to a rooftop tank (surge tank) standing 9.2 meters high. When the tank overflows, water is forced downward with power into a separate chamber inside the building. During its fall, three pairs of open Francis-type turbines rotate, and through their horizontal shafts, they transferred motion to three electromagnets–generators, which produced alternating electric current.

Source: Historical Archive of the Public Power Corporation

History

The Small Hydroelectric Power Plant Agia was inaugurated on July 22, 1929, by the Prime Minister of Greece, Eleftherios Venizelos. During its operation, it provided a small but significant amount of electricity to the city of Chania. It delivered electricity at low cost, on demand, in an environmentally friendly way without additional pollution.

As one of the few hydroelectric power plants of its time, the SHPP remained in operation until 2005. Initially, it belonged to the Municipal Lighting Company of Chania. In 1959, it was purchased by the Public Power Corporation (PPC) and later utilized by PPC Renewables S.A.

 

To meet the ever-increasing electricity needs of the main city and the surrounding residential areas (Agia, Agrokipio, Alikianos, Varýpetro, Galatas, Kokkinos Pyrgos, Mournies, Pelekapina, Perivolia, Skoulas, Souda, Chrysopigi), the Municipality of Chania established a thermal power station close to the city center, on Ypsilanton Street in 1936.

Before the founding of PPC a total of 63 cities and villages in Crete were supplied with electricity by 43 different companies! Most of these belonged to local olive oil or agricultural cooperatives (22), followed by community/municipal electric companies (11), and private companies (10).

 

Source: Historical Archive of the Public Power Corporation

Industrial Architecture and
Industrial Archaeology

The power plant is a significant physical remnant of the local industrial archaeology, embedded in the modern history of the city and in the collective memory of the society of Chania. The presence of such a pioneering project in early 20th-century Crete holds historical, technological, social, architectural, and scientific significance today.

The project is credited to the Italian Prinzivalli and the Swiss engineer Sen, in collaboration with a group of engineers from Heraklion.

SHPP features modern architectural characteristics. It is generally defined by a lack of decorative elements, with its load-bearing structures clearly visible and “clean” in form. There is a distinct separation between the functional parts of the building: the generator hall, the power distribution tower, and the water tank/drop shaft. The electromechanical equipment was manufactured by the German company AEG.

Source: Archive of A. Vazakas – M. Mandalakis

Idea

As the demand for electricity production increases, PPC moves forward with the operation of new power plants and the repurposing of small, decommissioned power stations for use by local communities. Thus, the former Small Hydroelectric Power Station of Agia is transformed into an Εxhibition Ηall for Renewable Energy Sources.

The goals are:

a. To raise awareness about:

  • – the preservation of industrial heritage, local culture, and history.

  • – electricity generation using Renewable Energy Sources.

  • – topics of scientific, technological, and environmental interest.

  • – biodiversity and the management of habitats.

  •  

b. Relaxation!

The power plant and the wetland of Agia are popular destinations for walkers and nature enthusiasts.

The proximity to the city of Chania attracts a large number of both local and foreign visitors, mainly interested in the area's flora and fauna.

 

Contributors

Project management:

Region of Crete
(Head of Project and funder)
Regional Development Company of Crete S.A.
(Project execution)
Technical Chamber of Greece / Western Crete Section
(Coordinator of Educational activities)

Project administration:

Regional Development Company of Crete S.A.
Εfstratios Flemetakis, President, Regional Councilor of Crete
Maria Petrantonaki, Director, Physicist

Technical Scientific Group:

Alexandros Vazakas, Architect, Assoc. Prof. School of Architecture, Technical University of Crete
Theocharis Tsoutsos, Chemical Engineer, Prof. Chemical & Environmental Engineering School, Technical University of Crete
Nikos Anastasakis, Physics Prof., Head of E.K.F.E. (Laboratory Center of Physics Science), Chania
Maria Petrantonaki, Physicist, Rep. of Regional Development Company of Crete S.A.
Matthaios Frantzeskakis, President of the Cultural Society of Crete
Panagiotis Bourbourakis, Director of Small Hydroelectric Power Plants P.P.C. Renewables S.A.

Research - Design:

Maria Mavroidi, Historian - Industrial Archaeologist, Head of P.P.C. Historical Archives
Alexandros Vazakas, Architect, Assoc. Prof. School of Architecture, Technical University of Crete
Myrto Kontomitaki, Museologist - Art Historian
Nikos Anastasakis, Physics Prof., Head of E.K.F.E. (Laboratory Center of Physics Science), Chania
Michalis Dretakis, Ornithologist, Researcher, Natural History Museum of Crete

Graphic Design: Inglelandi Digital Agency

Newsletter

Be the first to know about all our activities

Follow ΜΥΗΣ:

TOP