The Iron Gate Hydropower and Navigation System (HPNS) is one of the largest engineering projects ever undertaken in Europe, built to provide cost-effective and permanent utilization of available hydropower and to create adequate conditions for navigation along the Iron Gate stretch of the Danube. This system is built on part of the Danube River shared by Serbia and Romania , and since 1963 jointly managed by two countries, through the Joint Commission and its bodies.
The idea of utilizing the hydropower potential and improving navigation along the stretch of the Danube shared by Serbia and Romania dates back many years. Its implementation began after World War II, when a declaration was signed by Yugoslavia and Romania in which the two countries agreed to jointly explore the possibility of constructing hydro-power plants within the Iron Gate stretch of the Danube (Bucharest, 1956), and another to form a Joint Project Management and Coordination Committee.
Construction of the Iron Gate 1 dam began in September of 1964. In July of 1969, a navigation lock on the left (Romanian) bank was commissioned and in August of 1970, the first hydropower generators were placed on-line. The entire facility started operations on 16 May 1972.
An agreement between the Federal Executive Assembly of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Romania, addressing conditions for expansion of cooperation in the utilization of the hydropower potential of the Danube River (1977), approved the Iron Gate 2 construction project. Construction of this system began in December of 1977 and the hydro-power plants achieved their design capacities in 1986. Additional hydro-power plants, on the main stream and on the Gogos branch, were built in 1994 and 2000, respectively.
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