The “expedition” began with a guided tour at Kössler Wasserkraftanlagen, a long-standing Austrian turbine manufacturer based in St. Georgen, Lower Austria. CEO Erich Kössler gave his own account of the power supply method: “Hydropower is a renewable resource. 4 kWh of electric energy have the potential to replace roughly 1 kg of crude oil.

Hydropower thus helps to cut down on expensive oil imports and also brings us closer to the Kyoto Protocol targets.” Werner Panhauser, one of Kössler’s experts, admits that state-of-the-art turbine wheels with their average 90 % efficiency leave very little room for improvement.

“Yet vital progress may still be achieved in other areas of power plant construction, such as in design and manufacturing. Kössler also applies Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM); these two engineering tools ensure that flaws in the turbine manufacturing process are largely ruled out,” says the expert.

The choice of new materials, such as chromium-nickel steel, makes turbine wheels resistant enough to last for decades. Major progress has also been accomplished in the size reduction of hydropower units. Says Panhauser: “Compared to new plants with the same efficiency, older plants are in the range of 50 % bigger to double size!”

This is perfectly illustrated by the example of the new SHP plant on the Traisen river in Lilienfeld. The new facility, built on the opposite riverbank within sight of the old plant, started operation in late February 2006. The period between planning and final completion was exceptionally short and lasted only six months.

The new facility also demonstrates what aspects must be considered before project launch and how eco-friendly modern plants can be. Pater Raymund is chair of the economic council and heads the planning department of Lilienfeld Abby; the block of land on which the two SHP plants are situated belongs to the monastery.

The clergyman reports that the first SHP plant starting operation in 1902 was originally used to produce electricity for the sawmill. “Subsequently the plant also supplied the monastery with electric power, and any surplus of eco-electricity was fed into the power grid of VERBUND,” he proudly explains. The old SHP plant was finally closed down in the wake of a major flood event in 1997 and also in compliance with the new provisions relating to residual water was required.

The estimated cost of e 5 million for the construction of a new SHP plant made project execution appear very unlikely. The turnabout came when the monastery and the local government joined forces and founded E-Werk Stift Lilienfeld GmbH. The GmbH, acting as the builder-owner, organised the tender procedure and instructed the award-winning contractors (DI Goldbacher ZT, Dr. Lengyel ZT GmbH, Schubert Elektroanlagen, Kössler GesmbH, to name but a few).

The new Lilienfeld plant is designed as an impoundment dam, which also solves the problem with residual water. A maximum energy output requires optimum flow conditions at the inlet, but also the outlet section downstream of the turbine must be perfectly designed,” explains Werner Panhauser. “ARGE Univ.-Prof. Dr. Mathias Jungwirth and TB aQuadrat” assisted in ecological planning. They restructured the riverbank and riverbed in the outlet section and established an upstream fish passage facility.

Bernhard Pelikan, lecturer at the BOKU Vienna, to his students: “From an ecological point of view, SHP is neither ‘good’ nor ‘bad’. The benefit or drawback lies in plant design and manufacturing. We simply need to build better facilities!”
(Source: aqua press Int. 1/2006)