Stegenwald Salzach power plant
The Stegenwald power plant on the Salzach River is a joint power plant between VERBUND and Salzburg AG – for more electricity from the Salzach.
The Salzach has been reliably supplying electricity from hydropower for decades. With the Stegenwald joint power plant, around 20,000 more households can be supplied with electricity from clean, domestic hydropower.
The power plant does not create a classic reservoir in the Stegenwald area. The Salzach remains a flowing watercourse and is additionally widened. A modern fish ladder is now part of the ecological standard.
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Grand opening of the new Salzach power plant
On 26 September 2025, the Salzach power plant in Stegenwald was officially opened. With innovative technology and ecological solutions, it sets new standards in hydropower. The plant supplies 74 gigawatt hours of green electricity to around 20,000 households and strengthens regional value creation. Numerous guests of honour from politics and business celebrated this significant milestone together with VERBUND and Salzburg AG.
Successful damming and grid connection
In April, further milestones were successfully reached at the Stegenwald power plant on the Salzach river. The reservoir was filled with water for the first time at the beginning of the month. After Easter, the first of the two generator sets was synchronized with the public power grid, i.e. electricity was produced and fed in for the first time. The official opening of the run-of-river power plant with the longest fish pass on the Salzach river is planned for September.
A new home for the Salzach
On 14 February 2025, an important step was taken for the new Stegenwald Salzach power plant - a joint project between VERBUND and Salzburg AG. The Salzach is being carefully diverted into its new bed, while the old riverbed is being restored to its natural state. The power plant, which is scheduled for completion in 2026, will create a sustainable habitat for fish and supply around 20,000 households with green electricity.
Drone flight after diversion of the Salzach
In this video you can see the Salzach and the construction site of the Salzach power plant after the river was diverted.
Impellers successfully lifted into place
The shell construction of the main building of the Stegenwald power plant – a joint project of VERBUND and Salzburg AG – has been completed. Now the first heavy machine parts for the innovative run-of-river power plant are being delivered.
On Friday, 22 November 2024, the two turbine sets, consisting of Kaplan impellers, turbine covers and turbine shafts, were successfully lifted into place.
Work on the power plant continues
Work in the Salzach River at the Stegenwald power plant construction site has been suspended since the end of August 2024. The reason for the partial halt to construction was the decision of the Administrative Court (VwGH), which annulled the decision of the Salzburg Provincial Administrative Court regarding the positive nature conservation licence. On 2 October 2024, the Salzburg Provincial Administrative Court lifted the suspensive effect associated with the appeal proceedings, allowing all nature conservation-related work on the construction site to continue again. The main focus here was on ecological and safety aspects.
Measures remain in place in the Salzach
End of August 2024, the Administrative Court of Justice (VwGH) overturned the decision of the Salzburg Provincial Administrative Court based on the extraordinary appeal by the Provincial Environmental Ombudsman's Office (LUA) regarding the nature conservation permit due to formal reasons in the justification and not because of substantive failures on the part of the project applicants. The project operators VERBUND and Salzburg AG have spent the last few days carefully examining the impact of this decision on the Stegenwald power plant construction site.
Half-time celebration at the Stegenwald power plant
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Salzach power plant in Stegenwald took place at the end of June 2023. It is an important building block in the energy transition and in future will generate as much clean electricity as 20,000 households consume on average per year. Yesterday, construction progress was celebrated with a small half-time party. Project operators VERBUND and Salzburg AG invited the mayors of the neighbouring communities and local residents to celebrate the smooth implementation of the project.
New mobile pump trailer for the Werfen Volunteer Fire Brigade
The Werfen Volunteer Fire Brigade is primarily responsible for the Stegenwald power plant, which falls within its deployment area. In order to reach the construction site quickly and safely in winter too, when there’s a risk of avalanches, the fire brigade was equipped with a mobile pump trailer by the project operators VERBUND and Salzburg AG. As a token of appreciation, there was also a cheque for EUR 3,000 on top.
