St. Johann Run-of-River Power Plant

The joint venture power plant at St. Johann is a run-of-river plant situated on the river Salzach and in the municipality of St. Johann in Salzburg.

The St. Johann power plant was built between 1988 and 1991 and consists of six stages, with a diversion power plant as the lowest stage with a weir system at Werfen and a power house at Golling. Two Kaplan bulb turbines generate around 71 GWh of electricity annually.

Please accept marketing-cookies for this website displaying Google Map.

Owner	VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH, Salzburg AG
Operator	Salzburg AG
Commissioning	1991
Type	Run-of-river power plant
Country	Austria
Region	Salzburg
Waters	Salzach
Output	17 MW
Annual output	71,200 MWh
Turbine	Kaplan
Connectivity	Fish bypass

Ecology & environmental protection

The St. Johann run-of-river power plant has been equipped with a fish bypass since 2011 and therefore has continuity of flow for native species of fish. A fish bypass in the form of a pond pass was included in the plans during construction of the St. Johann power plant. This was later modernised and brought up to the latest state of the art. The entry point in the tailwater was implemented as a classic vertical slot pass, which then transitions to a near-natural pond pass and then to a slot pass and a near-natural bypass channel. The exit point is again formed by a vertical slot pass. The fish bypass has a total length of 420 metres.

Our latest conservation projects

Turbines and generators: Two horizontally installed Kaplan bulb turbines have an output of 8,250 kW each with an expansion head of 10.0 metres. The four-blade impellers with a diameter of 3.6 m have an intake capacity of 106 m³/sec. The two bulb turbine generators have a nominal output of 9,500 kVA. The generators are cooled by means of a closed circuit.

Transformers: Two 9,500 kVA machine transformers raise the generated energy to 30 kV. Transmission is via a 30 kV cable lines to the Pongau substation of Salzburg AG. The plant additionally has two 400 kVA transformers to cover its own requirements. They connect the 30 kV with the 0.4 kV voltage level.

Weir system: In order to control the three-field weir system, welded pressure segments in the box design with weir flaps are used. With a clear width of 10 metres, the barriers enable a total dammed height of 10.3 metres.