Styrian hydropower

Automatically stored draft

After two and a half years of construction, the Mur power plant in Gratkorn will be connected to the grid on Friday

(Bild: Verbund)

With the Mur power plant in Gratkorn, one of the largest hydropower projects of recent years was completed on Friday. Three new and two renovated power plants could soon be added on the Mur alone.

Leoben, Dionysen, Pernegg, Laufnitzdorf, Rabenstein, Peggau, Friesach, Weinzödl, Gratkorn, Graz, Gössendorf, Kalsdorf, Mellach, Lebring, Gralla, Gabersdorf, Obervogau, Spielfeld: the list of power plants on the Mur is long. Often enough, they caused protests from conservationists concerned about birds and fish, flora and fauna along the Styrian river, and initiatives such as "Save the Mur" were founded.

Green energy production at the expense of the environment? This tension is released with every new project. But while conservationists have long argued that the Mur has reached its limit, new power plant plans are constantly being announced.

• The power plant in Stübing is particularly controversial: north of Graz, Energie Steiermark and Verbund want to build right where the endangered Huchen has its spawning grounds. 5,000 signatures have already been collected against this, and the Nature Conservation Association has written an open letter. According to Energie Steiermark, the power plant is still in the planning phase.

• The environmental impact assessment is currently underway for the power plant in Leoben-Ost/Judendorf. According to Energie Steiermark, the process will certainly take until next year, and construction should be able to start at the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027 if there are no objections.
• A run-of-river power plant on the border between St. Georgen am Kreischberg and Murau is also in the EIA process. The Murau West power plant will be implemented by a separate construction and operating company, which is owned by Elektrizitätswerk Gösting and 10 percent by Stadtwerke Murau. "The process will still take months, but if everything goes well, we expect construction to start at the end of 2025," says Managing Director Thomas Unger. Concrete plans and renderings will be presented once the EIA has been completed.

(Bild: OpenStreetMap, Krone KREATIV)

• In Judenburg , the legal green light has already been given for the new power plant. It will replace three outdated plants and supply twice as much electricity. Construction is scheduled to start at the end of the year or the beginning of 2025.
• The Mur power plant in Laufnitzdorf is also being upgraded "from the inside". Verbund is investing 65 million euros to replace the turbines from the 1930s. Output is to be increased by 30 percent in two years.

New power plants also on the Upper Enns and in Pusterwald
Hydropower is also being further expanded on other Styrian rivers: Wien Energie, for example, has built a two megawatt small hydropower plant on the Pusterwaldbach in Pusterwald to supply 2,800 households, which was also opened on Friday.

Plans for at least three power plants on the Upper Enns River, which became public in the spring, caused quite a stir. Exact locations are not yet known, "location analyses are underway", says Energie Steiermark spokesman Urs Harnik. Both tourism experts and conservationists are already up in arms against the plans. The FPÖ has called for a referendum.