If you think that Soca river is only useful for Soča rafting and canyoning Bovec, think again. Although activities like Soča rafting and canyoning Bovec are a big part of the river’s versatility, they are not all that the water can be used for. In fact, besides entertaining people with Soča rafting and canyoning Bovec, the river is often used to produce energy for a huge amount of different households and other objects. There are three major hydropower plants on Soca river in Slovenia. In Slovenia, hydropower is very important as almost thirty percent of all electrical power comes from water. The river Soca is the third in the country, only two other rivers, Drava and Save, provide more energy than the famous emerald river. As the cost of electricity produced from water is relatively low this is a competitive source of energy and is widely used in Slovenia as well as in other places in the world.
Ecological Concerns
Hydropower plants are generally considered quite green. First of all, they do not produce carbon dioxide which greatly contributes to the greenhouse effect, so this is considered an immense benefit. They do, on the other hand, produce a small amount of methane emissions which is a greenhouse gas as well. What is more, although hydropower reservoirs often provide opportunities for a number of different water sports, they also, due to construction, disrupt the river species and damage their ecosystems. Huge dams are also a huge safety hazard as the consequences of a dam failure can be quite disasters and have resulted in many deaths across the world, even though they have been quite safe in Slovenia so far. All in all, hydropower plants are an important source of energy, but, as with other types of power plants, they present some risks.