Minister Michael Strugl Found Out More About the Energy Storage Facility in Riedl

Upper Austria's finance minister Dr. Michael Strugl, was a guest visitor to the Danube power plant in Jochenstein and informed himself on the plans for the future project for the Riedl energy storage facility and the role it will play in the energy transition. He also visited the sites of the planned storage reservoir between Gottsdorf and Riedl. The tour through the hydropower plant, which has been a protected monument since 2011, completed the programme. Accompanying were the member of the national council August Wöginger, MP Barbara Tausch, WK Chairman Johann Froschauer, Schärding district secretary Marianne Reininger and the former Upper Austrian regional parliament president Friedrich Bernhofer.

Member of provincial government Michael Strugl emphasised the necessity of the storage facility for Upper Austria: "The energy availability is a considerable local factor for Upper Austria, which is a strong production location with high energy intensity. Along with energy efficiency and the expansion in energy research, the further development of the energy infrastructure is the decisive factor in securing availability also in the long-term.

Project manager Dr. Dominik Mayr presented the project and the current planning stage using models in the Danube power plant in Jochenstein. He demonstrated that apart from the necessary storage reservoir above ground and the power station, the power plant facility will be constructed completely underground. In this way the sensitive and protected Danube channels can remain untouched and in their current state.

Herfried Harreiter, authorised officer of Donaukraftwerk Jochenstein AG, emphasised that the project would make an indispensable contribution to the expansion of renewable energy in Austria and Germany. The Riedl energy storage facility will have the function of a green battery, so it can store the energy in large quantities in the meantime and when required, i.e. when electricity customers should request it, make it available at the shortest notice and feed it into the electricity grid. This can be carried out for example in the case of wind energy, which currently is not in such high demand and cannot be used up.

The highly-efficient energy storage facility in Riedl will provide a renewable output of 200 Megawatts. The project for sustainable storage of electricity will in future secure more renewable and CO2 free energy sources. The planning and implementation will take place taking regional ecological general conditions, newest technologies and the highest safety standards into consideration The project is currently undergoing an intense and comprehensive acceptance procedure.