Renewable Energy – Solutions for application in the communal energy infrastructure

EXAMPLE PROJECTS |
35
Germany: Modernisation of a small hydropower plant
The hydroelectric power plant on the Möhne River has been in operation since 1906 and today produces 2.2 million kilowatt hours of
electricity annually.
Decentralised electricity
generation from hydropower
has a centuries-old
tradition.
That is why many hydropower
plants have been in
operation for decades.
When the time comes for
modernisation, it is
advisable to also improve
the protection of fish and
water bodies. This was
also the case with the plant in Himmelpforten in North
Rhine-Westphalia.
Several measures also improved the level of environmental
friendliness and conditions for fish stocks. For
example, the rake distances were reduced so that the
fish do not swim into the turbines. They reach their
spawning grounds via a new device known colloquially
as a “fish ladder”.
In 1906, the diversion power plant in the river Möhne
was put into operation for the first time. It has been
generating electricity with two turbines ever since.
After more than 100 years of operation, the hydropower
plant was to be modernised. A Kaplan tubular turbine
with 600 kilowatts of power was installed, which went
into operation at the beginning of 2012. The highly
efficient plant generates around 2.2 million kilowatt
hours of electricity per year. That is a third more than
The new Kaplan tubular turbine with 600 kilowatts of power.
before and enough for 624 households. The annual CO 2
avoidance amounts to 900 tonnes.