Lehen riverbed sill power station, Salzburg

The rising demand for energy, which is observed mainly in urban areas, has allowed Salzburg AG to develop a unique project in the heart of the regional capital. In the middle of a residential quarter, a hydroelectric plant was built here with a capacity of 13.7 MW. The riverbed threshold built in 1968 in the Lehen district had previously massively disrupted the continuity of the flowing waters of the Salzach River.

With the construction of the Lehen riverbed sill power plant and the associated construction of a fish ladder, this disruption has been significantly ameliorated. Sealing walls on both banks and a drainage system in the storage space on the right bank slow the rise of groundwater when flooding occurs. Simultaneously, a recreation area has been established in the town centre in the course of the power plant construction. This benefits primarily the residents of the immediately adjacent and densely built suburbs of Lehen, Liefering and Itzling.

The power plant, consisting of a power house with two machine sets and a four-span weir system is situated approximately 170 m below the existing riverbed step. Its construction was divided into two phases. After the preparatory work in the summer of 2010, the first construction phase was launched in September 2010. In this, three of the four weir fields were built on the right bank of the Salzach River and a sealing wall placed on the left bank in the storage space. Phase two - it included the construction of the fourth weir field, as well as the power house and the installation of the generators - launched after the timely completion of the first phase of construction in January 2012. The project was finished in June 2013.