A new fish pass is being built at the Inn power plant Egglfing-Obernberg

A few weeks after the opening of the Braunau Simbach fish pass, VERBUND is starting preparatory work for the next bypass river some 30 kilometres downstream at the Inn power plant Egglfing-Obernberg. This nature conservation project is also part of the EU LIFE project “Riverscape Lower Inn”, which further promotes the natural development of the river landscape along the Lower Inn.

In 2025, construction work will begin on the largest near-natural bypass river on the Inn to date with a length of 5.8 kilometres. The ground-breaking ceremony for this pioneering nature conservation project is expected to take place in the spring of next year. Before this can happen, the entire construction site has to be cleared. The necessary clearing work will begin at the end of October and is scheduled to last until the end of February. The remaining preparatory measures will be completed by the end of May 2025 at the latest. 

First of all, hollow trees that serve as valuable habitats will be carefully removed and reintegrated into nature in other suitable places. All the work is being carried out under the close coordination and supervision of an ecological construction supervisor and has been agreed with the authorities.

During execution of the work, restrictions on (cycle) routes are to be expected, which will be announced on a large scale and rerouted by means of diversions. VERBUND would like to thank all neighbours and embankment users for their understanding and asks them to respect the diversions and road closures.

Riverscape Lower Inn

The EU LIFE project “Riverscape Lower Inn” serves to achieve important goals of the Fauna Flora Habitat (FFH) and Bird Protection Directive within the scope of the European Natura 2000 network and the EU Water Framework Directive. In the coming years, VERBUND will implement measures for the ecological development of the riverscape on the Lower Inn. In addition to the near-natural bypass river at the Inn power plant Egglfing-Obernberg, the LIFE project includes the Braunau-Simbach fish pass and the creation of aquatic habitats in the areas around the power plants at Egglfing-Obernberg and Schärding-Neuhaus. In addition, the embankments of a total of four Inn power plants along a 40-kilometre stretch will be optimised and sustainably preserved as a habitat for protected plant and animal species through targeted maintenance measures.

In the coming years, the final obstacles along the VERBUND hydropower plants on the Inn and Danube rivers will also be removed with comprehensive ecological measures. From 2027, the river routes from the Iron Gate in Romania to Tyrol should then be barrier-free for all migratory fish species.

More about the LIFE project Riverscape Lower Inn