Latest News and Highlights
Groundbreaking for Austria’s most modern pumped storage power plant
PSP Limberg III, Austria
In September 2021, groundbreaking took place in Austria for Limberg III, the new pumped storage power plant. High-ranking delegations from politics, industry and, of course, both the customer and owner, Verbund, collectively celebrated the beginning of this future-oriented project in the powerhouse of the pumped storage plant Kaprun.
The event kicked off with the blasting of the drainage tunnel, which not only marked the celebratory opening of the new power plant, but also the furthered progress of the works.
Approved in 2017, the Limberg III power plant project is a pumped storage power plant with a capacity of 480 MW in turbine mode as well as in pump mode. It is part of the Glockner-Kaprun power plant group in the heart of the Austrian Alps in the municipality of Kaprun. Like the Limberg II power plant, which was commissioned in 2011, it is being constructed completely underground between the two existing reservoirs of Mooserboden with a maximum water level of 2,036 m and Wasserfallboden with its maximum water level of 1,672 m.
ANDRITZ was awarded the contract for the design and engineering of two variable-speed, asynchronous motor-generators, including the excitation system, in May 2021. A follow-up order for the supply of these machines is expected to be awarded in early 2022.
Once completed, Limberg III will feature a design specifically tailored to the future needs of the energy transition. Special machine set points will be used that can react extremely flexibly to the needs for balancing and energy control for the grid. In view of the increasing requirements resulting from the expansion of variable forms of renewable power generation, these are important services for grid stability – and one of the essential prerequisites for a secure and efficient power supply.
Silver Medalist at Paralympics 2021 in Tokyo
Florian Brungraber – one of us
Olympic debutant Florian Brungraber, already Bronze Medalist at the European Championship 2019 and ranked ninth globally, won the second silver medal for Austria in the paratriathlon on August 29th.
Florian is also part of the ANDRITZ Hydro family. A highly motivated person and an excellent hydraulic development engineer, Florian joined the company in January 2006. After completing his mechanical engineering apprenticeship, he started in our hydraulic laboratory in Linz as a test bench operator. At this time, he attended and successfully completed a technical college evening course and was announced as a group leader at the end of 2009. In 2011, he had an accident while paragliding. After his rehabilitation in mid-2012, he returned and started in a new role as hydraulic development engineer and project manager.
The whole management of ANDRITZ Hydro and all of Florian’s colleagues are very proud of his success both on and off the field.
ANDRITZ receives an important rehabilitation order in Oklahoma
Robert S. Kerr, USA
ANDRITZ received a contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Tulsa District for the rehabilitation and uprating of the turbines and generators at the 147 MW Robert S. Kerr hydroelectric power plant. Located on the Arkansas River in Eastern Oklahoma adjacent to the town of Cowlington, the plant, once recommissioned, is expected to generate about 152 GWh per year.
The scope of supply for ANDRITZ includes the design, manufacturing, supply, transportation, erection, testing, and commissioning of four Kaplan turbine generator units with a capacity of 36.8 MW each, along with associated auxiliaries and ancillary equipment. The contract will be executed by ANDRITZ Hydro’s USA subsidiary based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Commissioning of the first unit is expected in August 2025.
By securing this prestigious contract, ANDRITZ has further consolidated its position as a leading player in the hydropower market of the United States.
