Blackout prevention

Freudenau: Expedition into the catacombs of electricity

The Freudenau power plant is prepared for an emergency.(Bild: Alexander Kriegel)

Europe's largest urban power plant takes precautions against a blackout. The "Krone" was allowed under the depths of the Danube.

It is almost dead quiet down here in the catacombs. Only the soft splashing of a mini-rivulet can be heard, seeping through a crack in the dark gray catacomb of the Freudenau Danube power plant. "Otherwise, up to 500,000 liters of the big river shoot through here, and in eight minutes as much water flows through here as all Viennese households consume per year," assure VERBUND boss Michael Strugl and plant manager Heinz-Peter Allmer, who is responsible for the Lower Danube, during the "Krone" site inspection. We are close to the lowest accessible point in Vienna - because the inspection corridor under the machine to be serviced is exactly 129.5 meters above the Adriatic Sea level, which is decisive for this geographical data.

One billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year
The first drop in the ocean fell in 1991, when 72 percent of the Viennese voted in favor of building the power plant at this location in a referendum. Shortly afterwards, 1.4 million cubic meters of concrete were poured into the huge dam. Today, the Freudenau power plant with its six turbines generates one billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year. "Our large power plants have to run and be maintained around the clock so that they form a wall against blackouts," explains Allmer.

The current focus: machine no. 1. The impeller, which was drained during these hours, had to withstand nine years and supply 50,000 Viennese households. Everything that turns is now being inspected: from the blades of the 7.5-meter impellers to the bearings of the guide vanes. Damage to the turbine blades is re-welded, corrosion protection is inspected and replaced where necessary. Reassuringly, everything is now flowing again!