Windisch power plant

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Windisch power plant
Windisch double weir
Windisch double weir
location
Windisch power plant (Canton of Aargau)
Windisch power plant
Coordinates 659 716  /  259 251 coordinates: 47 ° 28 '53 "  N , 8 ° 13' 51"  O ; CH1903:  six hundred fifty-nine thousand seven hundred sixteen  /  259251
country Switzerland
Waters Reuss
Data
Type Canal power plant
Primary energy Hydropower
power 1.5 MW
owner Axpo Kleinwasserkraft AG
Start of operations 1829/2001
turbine Kaplan turbine
Website Axpo: Historic Windisch small hydropower plant
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The Windisch power plant is a run-of-river power plant owned by the former Kunz spinning mill on the Reuss in Windisch in the canton of Aargau . The loop power plant belongs to Axpo Kleinwasserkraft AG.

history

The founder of the Kunz spinning mill, Heinrich Kunz, bought the Reussmühle with a weir and water rights from Johann Hartmann, a miller fromhabenstorf. In 1828 he received the concession to use the water power of the Reuss near Windisch. He had a canal built in 1829. The Reuss supplied energy for the water wheels that drove his cotton spinning machines.

The canal flows between the two six-storey factory buildings ("Alte Spinnerei") built in 1829/1835. Each building received an undershot water wheel, which was built on both sides of the canal. In 1835 a lock was built for the ships next to the strike weir.

In 1864/66 the water wheels were replaced by four Jonval turbines from Escher, Wyss & Co. and the underwater canal was extended to over a kilometer. With the fifth Jonval turbine commissioned in 1868, the total output could be increased to 842 hp. In 1870 an even larger factory ("New Spinning Mill") was built behind the two older buildings.

Between 1907 and 1908, the company was rebuilt, and a steam power plant was built next to the hydroelectric power plant to produce its own electrical energy. In 1917/18 a new turbine house was built and in 1927 the machine house for a propeller capane turbine (built in 1928) was expanded. With the conversion of the barrier from the old needle weir to a weir system made of iron, the river could be dammed a little higher. The lock at the canal inlet was closed and the old weir from the mill era was given a boat ramp on the right bank of the river.

Kunz spinning mill with machine house above the canal between the old and new spinning mill, August 1932

After the decline of the textile industry in Switzerland, the factory area was converted and the power plant converted to produce electricity. In the period from 1991 to 2002, the Kunz spinning mill gradually ceased production.

Axpo Kleinwasserkraft AG acquired the hydropower plant with a new water rights license until 2055 . By 2016, Axpo had the power plant renewed by the Altdorf electricity company .

Today's production

Thanks to the renewal, the production of the three machine groups was increased from 10 to 11.7 million kWh and the output to 1.5 megawatts.

With the newly installed double- regulated Kaplan turbine , machine group 3 has become more efficient (max. 25 m 3 / s). This means that the licensed water volume of 55 m 3 / s can be fully used. The power plant is certified with the “naturemade star” label.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Kraftwerk Windisch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Office for Energy SFOE (Ed.): Pollution of small hydropower plants . March 10, 2010, p. 79 .
  2. ↑ Aargauer Zeitung, June 30, 2015, on the expansion of hydropower.
  3. ↑ Pro Natura: Windisch small hydropower plant
  4. ↑ Aargauer Zeitung of June 30, 2015: The Reuss power plant in Unterwindisch is getting a new turbine
  5. ↑ Aargauerzeitung of February 11, 2016: Renovations on the Reuss: In future, the power plant will provide more electricity