Vienna-Freudenau Run-of-River Plant

VERBUND's Freudenau plant is a run-of-river power plant on the Danube, within the urban area of the Austrian capital of Vienna.

240,385 households

supplies the Wien-Freudenau power plant

816,931

fewer tonnes of CO2*

6 Kaplan turbines, which number amongst Europe’s biggest

Visitor centre

* Source: ENTSO-E Production 2017

At the Danube power plant Freudenau, a fish bypass was included in the planning from the outset for the very first time. The power plant is equipped with six Kaplan bulb turbines which, with an impeller diameter of 7.5 metres, number amongst Europe’s biggest. The power plant generates approx. 1,093 GWh of electricity annually.
The central control room at Vienna-Freudenau has controlled all nine Danube power plants, with the exception of Jochenstein, since 2011.

Inside the Kaplan turbine of Vienna-Freudenau

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Owner	VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Operator	VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Commissioning	1998
Type	Run-of-river power plant
Country	Austria
Region	Vienna
Waters	Danube
Output	172 MW
Annual output	1,092,679 MWh
Turbine	Kaplan
Connectivity	Fish bypass

Beaver rescue at the Freudenau power plant near Vienna

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A dive at the hydropower plant

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A special feature of the Freudenau power plant is that a fish bypass was implemented during construction of the power plant for the very first time. The fish bypass was constructed between the Danube and the flood drainage channel of the New Danube as a 1 kilometre-long bypass stream with subsequent pond pass. This overcomes a height difference of 6.7 metres and a difference of 2 metres at the pond pass. The fish bypass has been in operation since 1998.

Fish bypasses safeguard the variety of species

Powerhouse: The six machine sets each consist of one Kaplan bulb turbine each with a rated output of 30,300 kW and a three-phase synchronous generator with a rated output of 32,000 kVA. Two groups of three machine sets are allocated to one block transformer each, with both block transformers being connected to two indoor switchgears.

Weir system: The four weirs consist of pressure segments with flap gate on top and stop log gates. Each weir field can be closed off for inspection work in the headrace or tailrace by stop logs that are stored in the area of the headrace stop log niches.
The Freudenau power plant was built between 1992 and 1998 in the “wet construction method”, i.e. in the river bed, and co-financed by EVN and Wien Strom GmbH.

Visitor centre Freudenau

Hydropower plants on the Danube

The Kaplan turbine

Environmental certifications