Pumped storage power plant Kaprun
upper stage & Limberg 2

Pumped storage power plant Kaprun upper stage & Limberg 2

The Kaprun upper stage/Limberg 2 pumped storage power plant is located in the municipality of Kaprun in the province of Salzburg and is part of a large generation group of storage reservoirs and power plants.

Nestled in the mountain ranges of the Hohe Tauern at the foot of Austria’s highest mountain, the Grossglockner, the Mooserboden, Wasserfallboden, Margaritze and Klammsee reservoirs are fed by the Pasterzen glacier and other mountain streams. The Kaprun Oberstufe/Limberg 2 pumped storage power plant pumps water from the lower Wasserfallboden reservoir into the Mooserboden reservoir and converts the power of this water back into electrical energy as required, thus supplying valuable balancing and control energy for the power grid.

Sustainable construction at pumped storage power plant Limberg II

As part of the Limberg 2 construction project, a thorough preliminary survey was carried out together with the Institute for Ecology of the House of Nature in Elsbethen/Salzburg. Experts analysed the flora and fauna as well as the potential impact on local residents and tourism. Areas particularly worthy of protection with endangered plant species were defined as no-go zones. Rare species, such as the alpine sweet umbel, were marked and relocated to protected sites.

Security of the energy supply

The impressive dam walls of the Kaprun high mountain reservoirs and the intelligent combination of reservoirs with storage and pumped storage power plants make the Kaprun power plant group an important element of Austria’s energy supply.

Around 50% of the water stored in the Mooserboden and Wasserfallboden reservoirs and used for electricity generation in the Kaprun Upper Stage and Kaprun Main Stage power pants comes from the south of the Alps; most of it is meltwater from the Pasterzen glacier of the Großglockner.

Water from the lower-lying Wasserfallboden reservoir can be pumped into the Mooserboden reservoir by the pumps in the Kaprun upper level power plant.

Eigentümer: VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Betreiber: VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Typ: Pumpspeicherkraftwerk
Region: Salzburg
Hauptzufluss: Möll, Kapruner Ache und Leiterbach
mittlere Fallhöhe: 365 m

Kaprun Oberstufe:

Inbetriebnahme: 1956
Leistung: 160 MW (173 MW Pumpleistung)
Jahreserzeugung: 131 GWh, davon 114 GWh aus Pumpspeicherung
Turbine: 2 x Francis

Limberg II:

Inbetriebnahme: 2011
Leistung: 500 MW (493 MW Pumpleistung)
Jahreserzeugung: 671 GWh, davon 602 GWh aus Pumpspeicherung
Turbine: 2 x Francis

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Pumped storage power plant Kaprun
upper stage & Limberg 2