Alstom to renovate the Kaprun Hauptstufe hydropower plant in Austria

Verbund Hydro Power AG has placed an order with Alstom for the renovation of two generators in the Kaprun Hauptstufe hydropower plant in Austria

This project will extend the service life and also increase the output of the M3 and M4 generators, with commissioning scheduled for April 2016. The Kaprun Hauptstufe power plant is part of a power plant group located in the Kaprun valley near Salzburg, Austria.

The two generators in Hauptstufe Kaprun have a rated power ouptput of 100 MVA each . Currently, the maximum power output of the power plant is 240 MW. Following the renovation, the total power output of the hydropower plant will increase to 270 MW, contributing to reinforce Austria’s energy supply.

“In Austria, Alstom has established a good working relationship with Verbund Hydro Power AG over many years. The key factors in being granted this order was our modern and proven technology as well as our outstanding global references” emphasised Otto Reinberger, Customer Service Manager Hydro at Alstom Austria GmbH.

Alstom recently renovated generators for the Edling, Kreuzeck and Bodendorf power plants, as well as supplied turbines for Gralla and rotary valves for Limberg 2. The company has also completed orders for the exciters and protection systems of various additional machines to the required standard of Verbund Hydro Power AG.

Hydropower plants can convert approximately 90 per cent of the available energy into power, and can therefore achieve very high efficiency rates. The Kaprun power plant is a reservoir power plant which has been generating electrical power to cover the peak load all-year round since 1952. The individual plants are monitored and remote-controlled by the central control station in Kaprun. The electrical energy is conducted to the Tauern transformer station, from which it is fed into the national high-voltage grid.

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