The advanced pumped storage plant will act as a green battery by balancing fluctuations in power generation from wind and solar plants, thus ensuring security of supply for the population. It takes advantage of the topography to store energy and make it available whenever needed.
Excess energy from renewable sources will be used to pump water from the Traunsee lake into a mountain reservoir 500 meters higher up at Grosser Sonnstein. When needed, the stored water will be released to generate energy that would otherwise have to be produced from fossil sources. ANDRITZ will equip the power plant with a 170-megawatt variable-speed reversible pump turbine, the generator and related automation.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place in October 2023. Scheduled to start commercial operation in 2028, the plant will be able to supply 280,000 households with green electricity.
Given the global increase in energy demand and the growing share of volatile renewable energy sources, economical solutions for storing large amounts of energy are critical. Pumped storage power plants currently represent the most efficient method of storing large amounts of energy for extended periods of time. They therefore play a key role in the clean energy transition.
