Shaft power plant

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A shaft power plant is a run-of-river power plant in which a partial flow flows off in front of the weir into a vertical shaft and there drives a turbine with a generator. In terms of flow technology, this construction prevents fish from getting into the running turbine and being smashed there and the course of the river being disturbed by the debris made of stones and driftwood at the turbine inlet.

Construction and function

In front of the weir in the river, there is a vertical shaft in which most of the water flows off and there drives a turbine with a generator. A small amount of water continues to flow over the weir.

The upper edge of the shaft is at the level of the river floor in front of the weir and is covered with a fine, horizontal rake, a metal grille to protect the fish against inflow. This arrangement also ensures that the debris carried by the river can flow unhindered over the weir.

The turbine generator unit, which is completely under water, consists of a gearless connection between generator and impeller and is sealed by a maintenance-free and wear-free seal. Due to the few moving parts, the unit is particularly low-maintenance. Because of this property, the company that developed this unit (called the DIVE turbine ) was awarded the Bavarian Environment Prize in 2009.

A diffuser is attached to the turbine generator unit , from which the water from the turbine flows off again.

Only a transformer house on the bank indicates the source of energy. The shaft power plants currently being planned have heads of 1.2 and 2.5 meters.

It is possible to arrange several shafts next to each other.

Performance data

On the Loisach near Großweil , a two-shaft design shaft power plant with a head of 2.5 m, a power plant discharge of 22 m³ / s and an output of 420 kW went into operation in July 2020 and it completely covers Großweil's electricity needs.

The efficiency of the shaft power plant is given as 86%, that of a conventional hydropower plant is 70 to 80%.

Ecological compatibility

Measures to protect the fish against an inflow to the turbine are the horizontal rake surface arranged along the course of the river , the low inflow speed on the rake, which is achieved through a large inlet cross-section of the shaft, and the fine rake grid. In the tests carried out by the Technical University of Munich (hydraulic engineering and water management), no fish were pressed against the rake by the current. The fish could move freely and there was no damage.

Fish can get downstream through openings in the weir. Upstream you can bypass the weir via a fish ladder .

The turbine and generator do not emit any sound because they work underwater.

Areas of application

Shaft power plants can be used up to small heads (> 1 meter) and also in small flowing waters . They are suitable for decentralized systems, especially in developing countries. Because of the simple construction, the construction and maintenance costs (with low maintenance costs) are low compared to other types.

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In Germany, the Technical University of Munich - Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management has so far built a test facility in Obernach , Bavaria , which started operation in 2013 with 50 kilowatts of electrical power.

A first prototype was planned on the Loisach in the municipality of Großweil and approved at the end of 2014. The Bund Naturschutz and the Landesfischereiverband filed a lawsuit with the Bavarian Administrative Court with reference to the FFH and the Alpine Convention . The legal dispute was settled with a compromise in compliance with stricter environmental and fish protection requirements. This power plant went online in July 2020. In December 2016, the construction of a shaft power plant on the Iller near Dietenheim was approved. A total of eight such power plants are to be built on the Iller.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Patented prototype - This run-of-river power plant can hardly be seen or heard. Die Welt / Wissen, September 11, 2015
  2. ↑ Hydropower concept shaft power plant TU-Munich, research institute for hydraulic engineering and water management
  3. ↑ a b P. Rutschmann: The role of hydropower as a renewable energy and its innovation potential ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. TU Munich, AGAW Symposium, Hydropower for Europe, ERA Conference Center, Trier, 15./16. September 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / linhart.ch
  4. ↑ DIVE-Turbine - The compact one for underwater zek Wasserkraft, December 2008
  5. ↑ zek Hydro: DIVE turbine - New standards in terms of fish friendliness. Retrieved March 13, 2018 .
  6. ↑ idw-online: First shaft hydropower plant on the network (July 20, 2020)
  7. ↑ The energy of the future - This is how the hydroelectric power station 2.0 works / Video FOCUS Online, April 29, 2015
  8. ↑ Hydropower completely rethought Welt am Sonntag, December 11, 2011
  9. ^ Shaft power plant - no shift in the shaft BR Wissen, October 5, 2012
  10. ↑ Christian Sebald: Power plant on the Loisach - Alarm in the fish paradise. sueddeutsche.de, April 29, 2015, accessed on November 4, 2015 .
  11. ↑ Tanja Brinkmann: Schachtkraftwerk Großweil: Significant delay. merkur.de, April 28, 2015, accessed November 4, 2015 .
  12. ^ Free path for hydropower in Großweil. In: https://www.merkur.de/ . Retrieved April 11, 2016 .
  13. ↑ First shaft power plant on the network. tum.de, July 20, 2020, accessed on July 28, 2020 .
  14. ↑ News. In: iller-schachtkraftwerke.de. Retrieved January 22, 2017 .