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RADAG run-of-river dam hydroelectric power station |
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Location |
Leibstadt, Switzerland |
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Commissioned |
in 2009 |
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Head |
8.75 metres |
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Nominal flow rate |
300 cubic metres per second |
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Output |
25 megawatts |
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Rotor weight |
280 tonnes |
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Impeller diameter |
6.1 metres |
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Annual generation |
190 million kilowatt hours |
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RADAG run-of-river canal hydroelectric power station |
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Location |
Albbruck, Germany |
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Comissioned |
in 1933 |
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Head |
9.2 metres |
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Nominal flow rate |
3 x 367 cubic metres per second |
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Output |
3 x 28 MW |
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Rotor weight |
300 tonnes |
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Impeller diameter |
7 metres |
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Annual generation |
470 million kilowatt hours |
1,400 cubic metres of water rush through the RADAG hydroelectric power station on the Rhine in Albbruck each second. That is the equivalent of the daily water consumption of a small town, or enough to water the lawn of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin very thoroughly ten times over. These enormous volumes of water drive the turbines and thus generate electricity. With state-of-the-art machinery and new technology on average 660 million kilowatt hours or 660 gigawatt hours per year. Enough to supply around 200,000 households with green electricity.
A new operating licence for the hydroelectric power station on the Rhine was granted in 2003 and will expire on 31 December 2072. Since it was first commissioned in 1933, the hydroelectric power station has generated approximately 50 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to date. Assuming it will continue to run until 2072, this figure will increase to around 85 billion kilowatt hours. A sufficient amount of electricity to supply almost 27 million 3-person households or the federal state of Bavaria with electricity for a whole year.
RADAG invested 70 million euros in the expansion with the newly built dam power plant. More than four million euros went into environmental protection measures.
To connect the upper with the lower level of the river, a 15-metre wide and 800-metre long diversion waterway was created for fish and other river fauna. In addition, newly constructed pebble islands and strategically placed rocks serve as living spaces for a variety of animals including grass snakes, bats and nightingales.
After 80 years of constant operation, it was time for a complete overhaul of the RADAG run-of-river hydroelectric power station and to future-proof it by installing state-of-the-art technology. To this end, the RADAG retrofit project was set up, an investment of around 43 million euros in carbon-free electricity generation. Among the new equipment that was installed are three tailor-made turbine impellers, which will generate electricity from flowing water even more efficiently in the future, thanks to their cutting-edge design. With these and other measures, the annual output of the run-of-river hydroelectric power station was increased by around 10 per cent.
