Mellach Run-of-River Power Plant

VERBUND's Mellach power plant is a run-of-river power plant on the Mur River in the municipality of Mellach in Styria.

1,548 households

supplies the Enns power plant

5,170 avoided
tonnes of CO₂*

The power plant at Enns has been passable since 2015 (German only)

Certified in accordance with ISO14001

*Source: ENTSO-E Production 2017

The Mellach power plant was built between 1982 and 1985 and is situated in the Mellach power plant group together with the thermal facilities. The run-of-river power plant contains two bulb turbines. The water flowing through the cooling water canal of the site’s thermal power plants is also used for generation purposes by an S-turbine. Around 74 GWh of electricity is generated annually in this way from hydropower.

Owner	VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Operator	VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Commissioning	1985
Type	Run-of-river power plant
Country	Austria
Region	Styria
Waters	Mur
Output	16 MW
Annual output	74,514 MWh
Turbine	Kaplan
Connectivity	Fish bypass

Ecology & environmental protection

In 2014, a fish bypass was implemented at the Mellach power plant. It was created by using a flume and connecting it to a vertical slot pass in the headwater as an exit from the fish bypass. The entire fish bypass is 1.52 kilometres in length and overcomes a height difference of around 10.5 metres. The biggest local fish, the Danube salmon, can also pass through the fish bypass.

Responsible treatment of the environment

Turbines and generators: The two bulb turbines have a nominal output of 8.55 MW each. Directly coupled are the two 10,000 kVA three-phase synchronous generators, which have a nominal voltage of 6.3 kV.

Cooling water turbine: The S-turbine with a nominal output of 582 kW for the cooling water channel is coupled to a generator with an output of 800 kVA.

Transformers: The plant has a 25,000 kVA block transformer for transforming the generated energy. It connects the 6.3 kV and the 110 kV voltage levels.

Weir system: The weir system is equipped with three pressure segment gates with weir flaps. They have a clear width of 15 metres and a closing height of 7.35 metres.