Two major services were recently undertaken for the Kaplan turbines of the Soča Plave 1 power station in Slovenia, which first went into operation in 1940.

The refurbishment project, which was completed in 2018, was conducted by GLOBAL Hydro Energy, the Upper Austrian hydroelectric power specialist, involved the comprehensive refurbishment of the Kaplan shaft turbines, each designed for 40.3 m³/s. The order for GLOBAL Hydro was one of the largest Kaplan refurbish­ments to date in terms of performance and component dimensions. Essentially, the order involved the fundamental renewal of the turbine shafts and impellers. In addition, the control systems were brought up to date and various technical support systems were optimized. The refurbishment of the large turbines (output 6,700 kW each) required a great deal of skill and dexterity.