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Energy export hit from Großweil: A shaft power plant is also being built in Kyrgyzstan

2023-03-21T17:16:10.397Z


The shaft power plant in Großweil is about to begin its triumphal procession not only in Germany but also in the world. With EU money, construction is to start soon in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. Co-founder of the idea, Peterrutschmann, is convinced that systems like the one in the Loisach can make a contribution to the energy transition.


The shaft power plant in Großweil is about to begin its triumphal procession not only in Germany but also in the world.

With EU money, construction is to start soon in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.

Co-founder of the idea, Peterrutschmann, is convinced that systems like the one in the Loisach can make a contribution to the energy transition.

big because

– As a pilot project, the shaft power plant in the Loisach near Großweil has long and impressively demonstrated its suitability for everyday use.

Since the start of operations in spring 2020, the plant, which has so far produced more than 6.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity, has been supplying around 800 households with clean energy.

And there are many indications that it is developing into an export hit - in Germany and worldwide.

dr

Peterrutschmann, professor emeritus at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), is convinced that power plants like the one in Großweil are just beginning to triumph.

"Demand has increased noticeably after the construction in Großweil," says the man who came up with the idea for the shaft power plant and who held the chair for hydraulic engineering and water management at the TUM.

The European Union (EU) also likes Großweil shaft power plants.

According torutschmann, it is funding the HYDRO4U project, which is coordinated by the Technical University of Munich and which includes the construction of a two-megawatt shaft power plant in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, with around ten million euros in the top research line Horizon 2020.

The European Union is thus supporting the construction of renewable energies in Central Asia with a cost-effective and nevertheless very ecological hydropower solution from German and Austrian companies as a contrast to the conventional solutions from Chinese providers that are common there.

"We were always of the opinion: If Großweil works, then it works anywhere in the world," saysrutschmann, who, together with Albert Sepp, is considered to have provided the idea for the concept.

NGOs resisted

He is convinced that in the course of the Kyrgyzstan project, the shaft power plant program will become well known worldwide, since the EU attaches great importance to the dissemination of the results of the funded projects.

"It can be assumed that the construction in Kyrgyzstan and the radical simplification through a flexible modular system will be the next step towards success." Of course, he would have wished that this development could have taken place in Germany and not in Central Asia.

"But we were not welcomed with open arms everywhere in Bavaria with our idea, but encountered a lot of resistance, especially from NGOs (non-governmental organizations; the editors)."

The professor emeritus is surprised that in times of climate change and the hunger for renewable energy, generating electricity in rivers does not have the best reputation among environmentalists and nature conservationists.

"There are many ideologues who constantly act against hydropower with dishonest arguments," saysrutschmann.

A fish-ecological monitoring commissioned by the State Office for the Environment (LfU) in Großweil is said to have shown that on 43 days in spring and autumn a total of around 16 kilograms of fish migrated downwards from above via the power plant, and less than 700 grams of fish in the six weeks – “a nice daily ration for a cormorant”, saysrutschmann – were damaged in the turbine.

"I can only wonder how hydropower can be blamed for the weakening fish populations."

Growing interest from cities and communities

However, there have been signs of a turnaround in recent months.

Interest is currently coming from many quarters – triggered by the war in Ukraine and skyrocketing energy prices – “increasingly”, saysrutschmann, “from concerned city and municipal authorities”.

Private investors are also said to be impatiently waiting for an announced publication by the LfU, in which around 200 locations for transverse structures in Bavaria will be named for potential hydropower use.

"Due to the outstanding, public interest in renewable energies, the legal situation has changed since this summer, and the CO2-free production of energy usually outweighs other, competing interests," explainsrutschmann in the Tagblatt interview.

And he notices a new way of thinking.

While water and fish ecological aspects have so far had an almost exclusive influence on a permit, he is convinced that climate protection and energy security will be the focus in the future.

Faster and simpler processes must make it possible to produce more and more available renewable energy on site.

"This can be of great interest to citizens and municipalities, as one becomes independent, can decouple oneself from the currently horrendous stock market prices for years to come, and can achieve a reliable, long-term emergency power supply for the most important needs of the community in the event of a blackout or in times of crisis," saysrutschmann .

The future began in Großweil three years ago.

The village on the Loisach is almost self-sufficient in terms of power generation.

background

In the Loisach near Großweil, the world's first shaft hydroelectric power station went into operation in 2020.

It produces climate-friendly electricity and at the same time protects nature more than conventional hydroelectric power plants.

The turbine is hidden in a shaft in the riverbed.

Fish can migrate downstream past the power station.


The new system type was developed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

The shaft power plant is operated by Wasserkraftwerk Großweil GmbH.

Shareholders are the municipal works of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the municipality of Großweil and the power plant Farchant, A. Poettinger & Co KG.

Also interesting:

The start of operation of the power plant is certain

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-03-21

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