More power from Austria's largest green energy battery

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After five years, extensive modernization and expansion of Austria's largest green energy battery was completed. "The pumped storage power plants around the Kölnbrein reservoir now have a turbine capacity of more than 1,500 megawatts and can thus feed the output of six Danube power plants into the grid at the push of a button," Verbund announced at the beginning of June.

Investment for green energy battery

The Austrian energy company invested more than 200 million euros in the modernization of the existing Malta main and upper power plants, as well as in the construction of the Reißeck II+ pumped storage facility and the new Kolbnitz pumping station. In the Mölltal valley in Upper Carinthia, Governor Peter Kaiser and Deputy Governor Martin Gruber attended a ceremony to mark the completion of the green energy battery modernization and expansion projects.

Stimulus for the economy

For Michael Amerer, Managing Director of VERBUND Wasserkraft, the investments in the Malta-Reißeck plant group are "an important stimulus for the economy in Carinthia and Austria." Currently, 14 modernization and new construction projects with an investment volume of more than €1.4 billion are being implemented, primarily in Austria. "Studies show that investments in energy infrastructure are an economic driver and generate high regional and national added value, the share of which in this project is almost 90% for Austria and a good 25% for Carinthia," Amerer continued.

Over the past five years, VERBUND has implemented several projects in parallel within the Malta-Reißeck power plant group. The existing Malta main and upper stage power plants were extensively modernized, increasing turbine capacity by approximately 40 MW, pumping capacity by approximately 155 MW, and generation by approximately 20 GWh. New additions include the Reißeck II+ pumped storage facility with a capacity of 45 MW and the Kolbnitz pumping station with a pumping capacity of 60 MW.

Green energy storage for several hundred wind turbines

"We have increased the pumping capacity by 260 MW and the turbine capacity by 85 MW, and here in the Malta-Reißeck power plant group we now have a total turbine capacity of around 1,540 megawatts and a pumping capacity of around 1,100 megawatts. In combination with the large storage facilities, we can temporarily store the surplus electricity from several hundred wind turbines," said Karl Heinz Gruber, Managing Director of VERBUND Wasserkraft.