VERBUND modernises Styrian hydropower plants

VERBUND, the largest power plant operator in Styria, is investing more than 400 million euro in the expansion and modernisation of Styrian hydropower. The extensively modernised Mur power plant in Gralla was commissioned today. With immediate effect, this plant will be able to cover the annual electricity requirements of approximately 21,000 private households in South Styria with clean hydropower.

Electricity from hydropower is the most important source of energy in Styria. As the largest power plant operator in Styria, VERBUND not only invests in the expansion of renewable energies but also implements modernisation programs to upgrade decades-old power plants to current state-of-the-art.

After almost 50 years of operation, the turbines and generators in the Mur power plant Gralla were extensively modernised. The efficiency of the power plant was enhanced and electricity production increased by approximately five percent through the integration of state-of-the-art technology. The overhauled Mur power plant, which was ceremoniously commissioned in Gralla today, will cover the annual electricity requirements of around 21,000 South Styrian households with clean electricity from hydropower.

Investment program in hydropower for efficiency and climate protection

In the last years, VERBUND, Austria's leading electricity company, invested several hundred million euro alone in Styrian hydropower resulting in high-tech industrial contracts, in part, directly in Styria, (turbine and transformer construction) and in Styrian value-added. The new power plant Stadtkraftwerk Leoben was erected on the Mur, 100 million euro was invested in the expansion of the most efficient storage power plant on the Enns in Hieflau and, in Pernegg, the Mur power plant, which is over 80 years old, is currently being extensively overhauled.

Together with Energie Steiermark AG, VERBUND plans and constructs new hydropower plants on the Mur. In total, VERBUND is currently realising a hydropower investment program in Styria in an amount exceeding 400 million euro.

VERBUND operates 41 hydropower plants in Styria

With 41 hydropower plants, VERBUND is Styria's largest producer of electricity from hydropower. The run-of-river power plants on the Mur and Enns or large storage power plants such as Sölk and Arnstein annually generate enough renewable energy to cover the electricity requirements of all private households in Styria. VERBUND therefore make an important contribution to climate protection in Styria.