The phased approach of Alpen-Elektrowerke AG (AEW) from 1942 still envisaged four stages between Ferlach-Maria Rain and Rosegg-St. Jakob, but did not include the site of Feistritz. Feistritz first appeared as a planned site in the 1959 general plan from Österreichische Draukraftwerke AG (ÖDK) and, in the general plan of 1965, Feistritz was the only stage to be planned between Ferlach-Maria Rain and Rosegg-St. Jakob.
The exploration works began on 8 March 1965, followed by the excavation works for the power house and weir system and the construction pit enclosure works. Both structures were erected on the left bank of the Drau using a dry construction method. October 1965 saw the start of concreting work on the weir system, and the power house was constructed in February 1966. Simultaneously, embankment construction works took place in the 15-km-long reservoir from April 1965 until September 1967.
Although the catastrophic summer floods of 1965 and 1966 resulted in an increase of construction costs by some 40 million Schilling, on account of flooding of the construction pits, it was still possible to adhere to the specified deadlines.
The weir system works were completed in January 1967, with the result that the diversion of the Drau through the three weir fields could take place on 15 February 1967. Construction works were completed on the power house in September 1967, followed by the installation of the technical machinery. The two horizontally mounted Kaplan turbines were manufactured by Chamilles in Geneva, and delivered and installed by VÖEST Alpine AG, Linz. After trial runs of unit 1 on 1 April, followed by unit 2 on 1 July 1968, the power plant was officially commissioned on 12 July 1968. The maximum number of workers on the construction site amounted to 560 men; the highest number of employees was 46.
Parallel to the landscaping of the backwater area, an embankment cycle path (R1) was created with the intention of encompassing the entire Drau in the final stage of development. Attempts to pass responsibility for maintenance of the cycle path to the surrounding municipalities have so far been unsuccessful.
Since 1998, Feistritz-Ludmannsdorf has been the control power plant of the entire Drau chain and accommodates the plant group, management and Drau central control station.
In 2000, brothers Thomas and Ed Hoke, together with Armin Guerihe, used the Selkach Bay area for the site of a land art project with a panorama "Ziggurat", which served as a prototype for further development possibilities on the Drau.
During the course of the automation and remote controlling of all Drau power plants, Feistritz-Ludmannsdorf was expanded as a control power plant. Since February 2007 it has been possible to operate all ten power plants and weir systems between Spittal and the border with Slovenia from the Drau central control station, whereas this was previously only possible for the plants of the "Middle Drau" section.