One of the most important and sustainable construction projects of the OBB is currently underway in the Pinzgau Stubach Valley. Work on expanding the power plant group has been underway since the autumn of 2020. With the breakthrough of the 3.8-kilometer-long access tunnel in the presence of tunnel sponsor Christina Haslauer from Enzingerboden to the future cavern of the powerhouse, an important milestone was reached after only eleven months.
With the construction of the new Tauernmoos pumped storage power plant as an extension of the existing Stubachtal power plant group, the needs-based in-house production of green traction current from hydropower is being further expanded. The total investment for the construction, up to the planned commissioning in 2025, amounts to almost 300 million euros, which the ÖBB is financing from its own funds outside of the master plan. In the course of the project, the two existing reservoirs Tauernmoos-See and Weißsee will be connected. The gradient between the two reservoirs with a height difference of approx. 220 m has not yet been used for energy purposes.
Work is well on schedule. The most important structural milestone in 2021 is the excavation of the cavern in the expansion of the power plant group around the Tauernmoos pumped storage power plant. With a height of 40 meters and a length of 72 meters, this cavity in the mountain will in the future form the heart of electricity production and will be divided into a machine and a transformer cavern. For size comparison: A twelve-story residential building would have space in the cavern. A total of around ten kilometers of tunnels will be driven into the mountain. These ensure direct and winter-safe access to the cavern as well as the tunneling and work areas at Tauernmoos and Weißsee and also for future equipment activities. The construction work is therefore well on schedule for commissioning in 2025.
