Aiviekste HPP is located on the largest tributary of the Daugava – the Aiviekste River, 14 km from the mouth of the Daugava.

Historically, Aiviekste HPP was a simple rural mill, which at the beginning of the last century became the largest hydroelectric power plant in Latvia at that time. Aiviekste HPP was the first hydroelectric power plant in Latvia to generate electricity and was the largest in Latvia from 1925 to 1938. The total installed capacity of its hydraulic turbines was 1070 hp. After the construction of the Aiviekste HPP, the settlement of Aiviekste began to develop on the right bank of the river. The Aiviekste HPP was shut down in 1969 and reopened in 1994. Aiviekste HPP has a total capacity of 0,8 MW and produces on average up to 3 GWh of electricity per year, which is equivalent to about 0,1 % of the Latvenergo Group’s total electricity production.
Source: www.latvenergo.lv

In 1932-1944, a transmitting station operated alongside the Aiviekste power plant. The Riga radiophone programme was fed to it via telephone wires and distributed from here by a transmitter at the appropriate wavelength. The radio station ensured the reception of the Riga radio programme in Eastern Latvia. The transmitter’s 250-metre antenna was initially mounted between two 116-metre-high pine towers. At that time, the highest wooden radio towers in Europe were located here, and American experts were interested in their construction experience. In strong winds, one of the wooden masts buckled, so in the early summer of 1940, a 230-metre-tall metal tower with ties was assembled from 33 sections and served as the antenna itself – the tallest structure in North-Eastern Europe. The antenna tower was destroyed in the summer of 1944 before the German army retreated. The concrete foundations of the tie-backs have been preserved.

OPENING
* A walk through the public territory of the Aiviekste HPP.
* Ozolsala, pedestrian bridge, fish path.

Photos from the Madona TIC archive.