Sellrain-Silz power plant group
The Sellrain-Silz power plant group of Tiroler Wasserkraft AG is a plant located near Silz west of Innsbruck from the group of pumped storage power plants for generating peak loads , which consists of the two reservoirs Finstertal and Längental as well as the Kühtai and Silz power plants . Water transported to the Längental reservoir via streams can be pumped into the Finstertal reservoir at the Kühtai power plant, which increases the energy at altitudewins, which can be made usable again during the main periods of demand by first channeling water into the Längental reservoir and then through pipes laid in the rock massif with a height difference of over 1250 meters to the Silz power plant, where it drives turbines at high speed .
history
With the increasing demand for energy in Europe in the 1970s and the use of numerous nuclear power plants , the problem of storing the electricity generated arose at times of low demand, as those power plants are used to generate base loads and cannot be shut down within a short period of time. In the search for a suitable location for a power plant that takes these aspects into account, the choice fell on the Inntal , as the flat land along the Inn is followed by alpine massifs with a considerable difference in altitude. In 1977 the construction of the power plant group and the construction of the dams began, in 1978 the construction of the brooks, which channel water from the catchment area into the Längental reservoir, whereupon the damming of the two reservoirs could begin at the end of 1979. After a one-year phase of trial operation, the Sellrain-Silz power plant group, which got its double name from the location of the valley power plant in the Silz area and the location of the catchment area, which is largely in the area of the Sellrain municipality , has been officially running since October 1, 1981 in full operation. When it was commissioned, Sellrain-Silz was the most powerful pumped storage power plant in Europe.
former Lower Finstertaler See with a view to the south
Former Upper Finstertaler See with a view to the north at the start of construction of the reservoir
The Finstertal (right) and Längental (left) reservoirs
Reservoirs
Finstertal storage facility
| Finstertal reservoir | |||
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| Coordinates | 47 ° 11 '57 " N , 11 ° 1' 20" E | ||
| Data on the structure | |||
| Construction time: | 1977-1980 | ||
| Height of the barrier structure : | 149 m | ||
| Height above the river bed : | 102 m | ||
| Building volume: | 4.5 million m³ | ||
| Crown length: | 650 m | ||
| Power plant output: | 289 MW | ||
| Data on the reservoir | |||
| Altitude (at congestion destination ) | 2322 m above sea level A. | ||
| Storage space | 60 million m³ | ||
The Finstertal reservoir is located at an altitude of 2300 m above sea level. A. and has a capacity of 60 million m³. Before the damming, there were two smaller, naturally formed lakes in its area, which lay on a rock basin that is suitable for absorbing such large amounts of water. 4.5 million m³ of rock were used to fill the dam with a height of 149 meters and a crown length of 650 meters, all of which came from the area of the present-day reservoir. The dam is sealed by an internal core made of asphalt concrete . Since this method had not yet been implemented on such a scale at the time of construction, the engineers installed 700 measuring devices that still check the behavior of the dam today.
Längenental reservoir
| Längental reservoir | |||
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| Coordinates | 47 ° 11 ′ 57 ″ N , 11 ° 1 ′ 20 ″ E | ||
| Data on the structure | |||
| Construction time: | 1977-1980 | ||
| Height of the barrier structure : | 45 m | ||
| Height above the river bed : | 30 m | ||
| Building volume: | 0.4 million m³ | ||
| Power plant output: | 500 MW | ||
| Data on the reservoir | |||
| Altitude (at congestion destination ) | 1901 m above sea level A. | ||
| Storage space | 3 million m³ | ||
| Catchment area | 139 km² | ||
The Längental reservoir, often also known as the Längental reservoir , is located in the Längental 400 meters below the Finstertal reservoir and plays a central role in the Sellrain-Silz power plant group: the creek flows into the intermediate reservoir, which has a storage volume of just one twentieth of the Finstertal reservoir 13 mountain streams that continuously supply the reservoir. The water contained in the lake can either be pumped into the Finstertal reservoir for storage or fed to the Silz power station to generate energy. The material of construction for the dam 45 meters high was largely by excavation of the tunnel system obtained connecting the individual parts of the power plant group together.
Power plants
Kühtai power plant
The upper of the two power plants of the Sellrain-Silz power plant group is at an altitude of 1900 m above sea level. A. on the southeastern bank of the Längental reservoir. Since water must be drawn and fed well below the lake level to avoid cavitation , the Kühtai power plant is designed as a shaft power plant, which means that the components are arranged vertically and the majority of the cylindrical power plant building is located underground. This has a diameter of 30 meters and a depth of 82 meters. The shaft construction also makes it possible to remove or install the rotor and stator using a gantry crane . Two Francis turbines with generators are installed in the power plant , which can be used both as a pump / motor and as a turbine / generator , either to pump the water obtained from the catchment area into the Finstertal storage facility or to recover the same water to return electric current. Both turbines can process a water volume of 66 cubic meters per second in pumping mode, which means that the Längental reservoir could theoretically be completely emptied in around 12.6 hours.
The electricity generated is conducted into the valley via high-voltage lines and fed either into the Austrian electricity network or into the Central European network. The Kühtai power plant is controlled and monitored from the Sellrain-Silz power plant there, so that personnel do not have to be present at the Kühtai power plant.
Silz power plant
The Silz power plant represents the main stage of the Sellrain-Silz power plant group. It is located at the foot of the mountain range at an altitude of 643 m above sea level. A. The technical components are also laid out underground here, with the hall of the power plant building only being used for the maintenance of the two generators . Next to the power plant there is an operating building, from which all systems of the power plant group are controlled , as well as an open-air switchgear for feeding the electricity generated by the power plant group into the power grid.
The Silz power plant draws the water it needs from the Längental reservoir, from which a slightly inclined pressure tunnel branches off, followed by a drop section in which the water is brought to its final speed with a drop height of 1258 meters and then passed through an overflow into the Inn.
The Silz power plant has two Pelton free-jet turbines , which convert the energy of the water hitting 500 km / h into electricity with a total output of 500 MW. The turbines are equipped with 23 buckets into which water hits from six nozzles and generates a rotor speed of 500 revolutions per minute. The high forces that arise make a particularly strong foundation made of reinforced concrete, which rests on 15 meters of gravel from the Inn.
Data
| Rank (1) | Surname |
Power in MW |
Standard energy in million kWh / year | workload |
Raw fall height in m |
Expansion flow in m³ / s |
completion position |
location |
| 2 | Silz power plant | 500.0 | 718.6 | 11% | 1238-1257 | 48.0 | 1981 | 47 ° 16 ′ 10 ″ N , 10 ° 58 ′ 3 ″ E |
| 15th | Kühtai power plant (2) | 289.0 | 55.5 | 4% | 319-440 | 80.0 | 1981 | 47 ° 12 ′ 27 " N , 11 ° 0 ′ 20" E |
literature
- Claudia Diemar: One of the largest hydropower plants in the world is located near Kühtai ... In: Sonntag Aktuell . January 2005 ( jagdschloss.at [PDF; accessed on July 29, 2010]).
