The VERBUND power plant Villach is a run-of-river power plant situated on the river Drau west of the town of Villach in Carinthia.
The Villach run-of-river power plant was built between 1981 and 1984 and is one of three power plants in the “Obere Drau” (Upper Drava) power plant chain. In addition to Villach, the Paternion and Kellerberg power plants are also incorporated into this chain – all function according to the concept of a pier power plant with two machine sets and three weir fields. The Villach power plant generates around 97 GWh of electricity per year. The power plant has been equipped with a fish bypass since 2007.
Owner: VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Operator: VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Commissioning: 1984
Type: Run-of-river power plant
Country: Austria
Region: Carinthia
Waters: Drava
Output: 25 MW
Annual output: 96,988 MWh
Turbine: Kaplan
Connectivity: Fish bypass
Two vertical Kaplan turbines are directly coupled to three-phase synchronous generators. The four-bladed turbines with a diameter of 4.8 metres and an output of 12,300 kW each can generate a total of 97 GWh of electricity per year.
Three weir fields, each 16 metres wide, were closed with 7.75 metre-high pressure segments with 3.05 metre-high flaps. The segment is lifted by pulling cylinders with an oil-hydraulic drive. The segments and the flaps are controlled from the Drava central control room in Feistritz-Ludmannsdorf.
The Villach run-of-river power plant was built between 1981 and 1984 with the financial involvement of KELAG and is one of three power plants in the “Obere Drau” (Upper Drava) power plant chain.
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Fish bypass at the Villach power plant: the fish ladder overcomes a drop in height of approx. 9 metres. In the upper part, it consists of a vertical slot pass with precast concrete parts, which connects to the Aichholzgrabenbach, which was partly redesigned as a channel and basin pass on the tailwater side. The fish can ascend through 32 cm-wide slits in 54 tanks made of precast concrete elements.
The functionality of the fish bypasses on the Drava is continuously monitored. This is supported by a video monitoring system – the so-called FishCam – developed jointly with the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences. The migrating fish are captured visually, identified and subsequently recorded in a database and professionally evaluated.
