Vienna-Freudenau
Run-of-River Plant

The VERBUND power plant Wien-Freudenau is Europe’s largest city power plant and links Vienna to Danube Island.

The Danube power plant Freudenau was put into operation in 1998. It was the first Danube power plant to have been planned with a fish pass from the outset. Every year, the power plant generates a billion kilowatt hours of electricity from hydropower.

January 2024: Restoration at Mannswörth Island

To improve biodiversity, Mannswörth Island downstream of the Danube power plant Freudenau is being restored to its original state. The side arm between the bank and the gravel island is being made much deeper, so that water continues to flow through it even in dry periods. This creates a habitat protected against the wave wash of shipping on the Danube. The installation of natural elements such as deliberately positioned tree trunks offers diverse habitat for fish, birds and others forms of aquatic life. Deepening the side arm is creating a gravel island that benefits gravel-breeding birds.

Owner: VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Operator: VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Commissioning: 1998
Type: Run-of-river power plant
Country: Austria
Region: Vienna
Waters: Danube
Output: 172 MW
Annual output: 1,092,679 MWh
Turbine: Kaplan
Connectivity: Fish bypass

We look at the Freudenau hydroelectric power station from outside at sunset. The power station is lit up in shades of orange. The sky and the Danube are blue.

Turbine shows at VERBUND's Freudenau power plant

A turbine also has to get a ‘Pickerl’. In Freudenau, work on one of the six Kaplan turbines has been completed. We quickly take a look at the impressive impeller before it disappears into the Danube water again for nine years.

(german only)

Technical description

Powerhouse: The six machine sets each consist of one Kaplan bulb turbine each with a rated output of 30,300 kW and a three-phase synchronous generator with a rated output of 32,000 kVA. Two groups of three machine sets are allocated to one block transformer each, with both block transformers being connected to two indoor switchgears.

Weir system: The four weirs consist of pressure segments with flap gate on top and stop log gates. Each weir field can be closed off for inspection work in the headrace or tailrace by stop logs that are stored in the area of the headrace stop log niches.
The Freudenau power plant was built between 1992 and 1998 in the “wet construction method”, i.e. in the river bed, and co-financed by EVN and Wien Strom GmbH.