Mellach Run-of-River Power Plant

VERBUND's Mellach power plant is a run-of-river power plant on the Mur River in the municipality of Mellach in Styria.

The Mellach power plant was built between 1982 and 1985 and is situated in the Mellach power plant group together with the thermal facilities. The run-of-river power plant contains two bulb turbines. The water flowing through the cooling water canal of the site’s thermal power plants is also used for generation purposes by an S-turbine. Around 74 GWh of electricity is generated annually in this way from hydropower.

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Owner	VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Operator	VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH
Commissioning	1985
Type	Run-of-river power plant
Country	Austria
Region	Styria
Waters	Mur
Output	16 MW
Annual output	74,514 MWh
Turbine	Kaplan
Connectivity	Fish bypass

Ecology & environmental protection

In 2014, a fish bypass was implemented at the Mellach power plant. It was created by using a flume and connecting it to a vertical slot pass in the headwater as an exit from the fish bypass. The entire fish bypass is 1.52 kilometres in length and overcomes a height difference of around 10.5 metres. The biggest local fish, the Danube salmon, can also pass through the fish bypass.

Responsible treatment of the environment

Turbines and generators: The two bulb turbines have a nominal output of 8.55 MW each. Directly coupled are the two 10,000 kVA three-phase synchronous generators, which have a nominal voltage of 6.3 kV.

Cooling water turbine: The S-turbine with a nominal output of 582 kW for the cooling water channel is coupled to a generator with an output of 800 kVA.

Transformers: The plant has a 25,000 kVA block transformer for transforming the generated energy. It connects the 6.3 kV and the 110 kV voltage levels.

Weir system: The weir system is equipped with three pressure segment gates with weir flaps. They have a clear width of 15 metres and a closing height of 7.35 metres.