Werfen/Pfarrwerfen power plant inaugurated

The power station delivers electricity generated from environmentally friendly hydropower for 22,000 households and represents an investment of around Euro 63.5 million. Despite EU-wide tendering, exclusively Austrian companies were chosen. 25 percent of the awarded contract sum remained in the federal province of Salzburg.

In the presence of Dipl.-Ing. Josef Pröll, Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Reinhold Mitterlehner, Minister of Economic Affairs, Mag. Gabi Burgstaller, Salzburg's Governor, Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Anzengruber, Chairman of the Managing Board of Verbund and the members of the project partners' managing boards Dr. Arno Gasteiger, Spokesman of the Managing Board of Salzburg AG, Mag. August Hirschbichler, Member of the Managing Board of Salzburg AG, Dr. Herbert Schröfelbauer, Chairman of the Managing Board of VERBUND-Austrian Hydro Power AG and Mag. Michael Amerer, Member of the Managing Board of VERBUND-Austrian Hydro Power AG, the new run-of-river plant Werfen/Pfarrwerfen was officially commissioned today.

Representing an investment volume of Euro 63.5 million, the new Salzach power plant was erected within a construction period of 28 months by VERBUND-Austrian Hydro Power AG in cooperation with Salzburg AG. The new hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 16 megawatts will generate around 76.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually that will be fed into the regional grid. With 22,000 households on average being able to be supplied with environmentally friendly energy, this contributes considerably to the electricity supply security of the entire region.

Over the winter half-year lasting from October until March, two powerful bulb turbines will be producing a total of around 23 gigawatt hours of electricity. "Over the four peak months May, June, July and August about 50 percent of the entire production of 76.5 gigawatt hours will be generated," Dr. Herbert Schröfelbauer, Chairman of the Managing Board of VERBUND-Austrian Hydro Power AG pointed out.

The total investment volume for the new Salzach power station amounts to Euro 63.5 million. Despite an EU-wide tendering procedure, it was exclusively Austrian companies that won the contract for this power plant. Around 25 percent of the awarded contract sum remained in the federal province of Salzburg in the form of direct contracts and subcontracts. Among various other companies, Pöyry Energy GmbH (Salzburg/Vienna), Werner Consult (Salzburg/Vienna) and the Institute for Ecology (Salzburg), for example, were entrusted with the planning. The companies Christian Ehrensberger GmbH (Bischofshofen), Deisl-Beton GmbH (Hallein), Gruber Sand-Kies-Steine GmbH (Grossarl) as well as Salzburg-based Sand- und Kieswerke (Bergheim) came together and formed the consortium ARGE Salzach Beton to deliver the concrete and the cut stone needed to construct the new power plant Werfen/Pfarrwerfen. "In the final stage, in particular, regional companies were chosen. Contracts worth around Euro 1.8 million were exclusively awarded to local craftsmen," stated Dr. Arno Gasteiger, Spokesman of the Managing Board of Salzburg AG.

More than Euro 2.3 million was spent on the planning and the implementation of ecological measures in the backwater area and in the underwater environment. Of this amount, around Euro 1.1 million was used to erect a state-of-the-art fish ladder, partially designed as a natural stream, but for the most part as a "vertical slot". On the right bank of the Salzach River a towpath was erected, leading from the ÖBB underpass around 600 meters above the Imlau bridge to Werfen railway station. The towpath on the left bank of the Salzach runs upstream from the powerhouse to the motorway bridge and was extended by the province of Salzburg along the federal road leading up to Imlau bridge. Both towpaths can be accessed by the public and used by cyclists.

Next to St. Johann, Urreiting, Bischofshofen and Kreuzbergmaut, Werfen/Pfarrwerfen power plant is the fifth hydroelectric power plant to be erected on the middle section of the Salzach. Together they produce around 375 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually. This is enough to deliver electricity to about 107,000 households of the around 220,000 households in the federal province of Salzburg.