Altenwörth power station

Kraftwerk Altenwörth stands on the Danube in Lower Austria, 20 kilometres downstream from Krems. Built between 1973 and 1976, it is the country’s most powerful run-of-river plant and belongs to the Lower Danube group. The works sit beside the original river basin, which now forms a calm backwater. A pedestrian and cycle bridge crosses the dam, linking both banks. The plant’s six weir fields and two locks regulate the river’s flow. The station houses nine Kaplan bulb turbines and generators that together deliver 328 megawatts. Each turbine turns at 103.4 revolutions per minute and passes 300 cubic metres of water every second. The nine generators produce 45 000 kilovoltamperes at 7 750 volts, yielding 1 967.6 gigawatt-hours annually. This output equals roughly one-sixth of Austria’s Danube electricity. The 30-kilometre-long reservoir reaches back to Krems bridge. Beside the dam, the old Danube arm has become a quiet recreation area with a boat harbour. The Kamp and Krems now join the reservoir where once the Kamp met the Danube near Grafenwörth. To the east, the Traisen flows through a newly landscaped 10-kilometre channel created between 2009 and 2019. A 12.5-kilometre fish pass, finished in 2022, links the Kamp, Krems and Danube for migrating fish.