Energy for generations: the hydropower plant on the Halbammer is in trial operation

Created: 01/01/2022, 09:00 AM

Has started work: the inlet structure on the Halbammer.

© Antonia Reindl

It is done: The hydropower plant on the Halbammer has been connected to the grid.

However, it is not yet running under full load.

Unterogg - The idea was a few years ago, but the decision was already back.

Implementation has now taken place.

A few compulsory tests are still pending, we are initially in trial operation, but the hydropower plant on the Halbammer near Unterstogg is running.

In spring, when the last snow has melted, the system will go into normal operation.

The way to completion was peppered with challenges.

But that is part of the complex nature of projects, know Jürgen Hitz and Arno Nunn, the two managing directors of Ammer-Loisach-Energie GmbH (Alois), which is responsible for the undertaking as the client.

Halbammer favorite location from the start

On the road to Unterstogg, near the hikers' car park, a sign indicates the construction site.

A good bit along the icy forest road along the Halbammer, around a few bends, and there it is, the hydroelectric power station, two falls, a backwater with a stone threshold.

With the system, the GmbH, which supplies private households and business customers with 100 percent electricity from hydropower, is producing its own green electricity in the Ammertal for the first time.

The idea of ​​placing municipal energy supply in municipal hands and realizing a hydropower plant came up shortly after the regional power generator with eleven shareholders was founded in 2013, recalls Nunn.

The Halbammer was targeted as a favored location.

Among other things, because at that time a private person held the water rights who had already tried to build something on the water in the 1990s, says Nunn.

There was also a good chance of getting the power plant approved, he says.

Admittedly, the usual approval procedure had to be carried out, but the fact that, in terms of water law, transverse structures were already running through the half-hammer, crashes as a result of flood barriers, played into the hands of the GmbH.

The outside is simple, but they are buildings of high standard.

© Reindl

Everything should be well thought out, all concerns, such as nature and environmental protection, should be taken into account. “We went through all the scenarios,” emphasizes Nunn, Oberammergau's mayor until 2020. The approval notice came at the end of 2019. The groundbreaking took place in mid-September 2020. "We gave the project manager the task of commissioning regional companies," reports the Alois managing director. Advice that was followed. Things really got going in October, until December they worked, then snow fell. Part of the intake structure could be built in this first construction phase. In the spring, just before March, the project was continued - again with snow. "You really had to clear that," says Nunn. "The real heroes are the guys who worked on site."

No full performance yet

The managing director looks back on the past few months with a smile.

Everyone involved always worked well together, even if something didn't go very smoothly.

For example, when a heavy rain event flooded the turbine last July.

"Everyone made their contribution," explains Nunn.

“That was a nice experience.” Nevertheless, he is happy that the power plant is now up and running.

Actually only two buildings can be seen, but these are two buildings of high standard.

The hydropower plant went online on December 9th.

Formally, one is initially in trial operation.

"We are not yet driving at full power," which is also due to the fact that there is just not enough water flowing into the Halbammer, explains the managing director.

The system is currently running at "at most half of its capacity".

When the turbine exhausts its full potential, up to 135 kilowatts, the power plant produces around 500,000 kilowatt hours annually, which is electrical energy for around 300 average households in Bavaria - and that over a long period of time.

The new hydropower plant, emphasizes Nunn, is “a long-runner, a generation project” for the next 50 to 100 years.