From the blue Danube
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A small hydro-electric power plant is due to start providing 10,000 Viennese households with environmentally-friendly electricity later this year.
Producing ecological energy without interfering with the environment right in the heart of a capital city: A new hydro-electric power plant at the start of the Danube Canal in Viennas Nussdorf district is due to start doing just that later this year. The plant will produce around 24.6 million kilowatt-hours of power every year and provide 10,000 households with clean electricity. The facility includes 12 underwater matrix turbines that ensure that the resources are used optimally.
The project has been realised by Wien Energie and Wienstrom and Verbund-Austrian Hydro Power AG and even Naturkraft who are equal partners in the project. A combined heat and power scheme is also planned in Viennas Simmering district, which will be able to produce a maximum fuel heat capacity of almost 66 megawatthours for district heating as well as electricity. The facility will burn an estimated 600,000 cubic metres of biomass from the forests during the 8,000 hours that it will operate each year.
A climate protection programme implemented by the City of Vienna includes 36 separate packages of measures covering district heating and electricity production, living, business, city administration and mobility. These areas include more than 300 individual projects, which are due to be implemented by 2010. One of the programmes main goals is to boost the use of renewable energy sources.
Viennas Environment Councillor Ulli Sima said she was pleased by the Climate Star project and added: "Climate protection is one of the greatest challenges for the future. It would be grossly negligent not to do anything about it. But I am confident that Vienna will reach its climate protection goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 14 per cent by 2010." Deputy Mayor Dr. Sepp Rieder said: "A safe, sustainable and economical energy supply will be a deciding factor in Viennas success as a business location. Environment and conserving resources, saving energy - these goals are extremely important to us. The small power station in Nussdorf marks a further contribution and will help to guarantee a sufficient supply of electricity."
Picture credit: © Denise Lechner / PIXELIO
