Environment & Climate
At the beginning of the year, Wien Energie put Austria’s largest “green” hybrid power plant into operation in Trumau (Baden district). It generates electricity using wind power and solar energy. This should enable a constant power supply.
Eight wind turbines and a directly connected photovoltaic system with a total area of 8.5 hectares will generate green electricity for 17,400 households in Lower Austria from 2023. The total output of the hybrid system is around 37 megawatts – that corresponds to ten times the electricity requirements of all households in Trumau, as the operator Wien Energie explains in a broadcast.
“Renewable energies such as wind and solar power are the key to the energy transition. That’s why we in Trumau have been expanding these technologies for years,” explains Mayor Andreas Kollross (SPÖ) on the occasion of the completion of the two projects. For him, the wind farm and the photovoltaic system are “further important lighthouses for climate protection” in the community. According to Wien Energie, the two systems save a total of 36,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Communication between the plants
The wind farm and the photovoltaic system together form the largest “green” hybrid power plant in Austria with sustainable electricity generation from wind power and solar energy. The power plant directs the green electricity from the two plants into a common power line. The wind farm and the photovoltaic system “communicate” with each other: The control of the systems is coordinated with one another and enables optimized use of the power line.
“Wind and sun peaks rarely occur at the same time. The combined generation of green electricity from wind and solar energy is therefore particularly efficient and protects the power grid. With the wind farm and the photovoltaic system in Trumau, we are putting two major projects into operation for sustainable power generation and are thus consistently continuing on our path to climate neutrality in 2040,” reports Michael Strebl, CEO of Wien Energie. The company has invested 46 million euros in the two plants.
Accompanying expansion of network capacity
While the wind farm is connected to the grid following a ten-year planning phase with an output of 27.6 megawatts, the photovoltaic system with an output of 9.7 megawatts is one of the largest in Austria. Wien Energie already operates six solar power plants in Trumau. The now seventh system generates ten million kilowatt hours of electricity per year with 17,888 modules.
In order for the infrastructure to be able to withstand the new generation potential, Wiener Netze expanded the capacities of the neighboring Moosbrunn substation (Bruck an der Leitha district) as part of the construction of the two plants. This means that other photovoltaic systems can also be connected in the future.