S.E.O. Centrale de Vianden - Vianden - Luxembourg
Posted by: 
eilers1
N 49° 57.242 E 006° 10.588
32U E 297467 N 5537341
The hydroelectric power station of Vianden is with it's capacity of 1300 megawatts, one of the largest in Europe.
Waymark Code: WM10854
Location: Luxembourg
Date Posted: 03/19/2019
Views: 3
The Vianden power plant is a pumped storage power plant that serves to store surplus energy and generate peak current.
At times when consumption is low, e.g. at night, with the surplus energy of the base load power plants, water is pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper one (storage). At times when demand increases, the stored water is drained via turbines. This produces high quality peak current.
The peak electricity will be fed into the German RWE grid. From here also the required pumping current is obtained.
The power station was located in the Ourtal because of its favorable topographical location in the midst of the industrial areas of northwestern Europe, the excellent geological conditions and the low population density.
History
The first plans for using hydropower in the Ourtal already existed at the beginning of the 20th century. For economic and political reasons, however, they were not realized.
It was only after the Second World War that the Luxembourg government reiterated the idea of building a pumped storage power plant. The project was European in character from the beginning, with people from many countries involved in both planning and implementation.
On 10 July 1958, the legal basis for the pumped-storage power plant Vianden was created with the conclusion of the State Treaty between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Land Rhineland-Palatinate.
The construction work for the power plant began in August 1959. In the winter of 1962/1963, the commissioning of the first 4 sets of machines took place. A year later, the second expansion stage, which includes 5 machines, was completed. On April 17, 1964, the official inauguration took place.
In the spring of 1970, the third expansion phase with a reversible pump turbine was tackled. Final commissioning finally took place in the autumn of 1976. In December 2014, the fourth expansion phase took place with machine 11 (reversible pump turbine).
Facilities
The pumped storage power plant Vianden is divided into a cavern power plant, a shaft power plant (machine 10) and a separate cavern for machine 11.
The cavern power plant comprises 9 horizontally arranged three-piece sets of 100 MW turbine power and 70 MW pump capacity each. The shaft power plant consists of a vertical two-piece machine set with 196 MW turbine output and 220 MW pump capacity.
The cavern power plant comprises 3 main buildings:
The upper reservoir with 2 artificial reservoirs on the Nikolausberg, usable capacity: 7.340.000 m³
The lower basin, which consists of a natural reservoir created by a dam built above Viandens
The underground power plant connected to the upper basin by 2 armored pressure pipes and to the lower basin by 2 underwater tunnels
The shaft power plant (machine 10) and the cavern of machine 11 are located in the immediate vicinity of the lower basin and are connected by two separate pressure lines to the upper reservoir.
Operational: yes
Type of power station: Pumped-storage
Operator: SOCIETE ELECTRIQUE DE L’OUR (S.E.O.)
Visitor center: yes
Date built: 01/01/1963
Generation capacity: 1300 mega-watts
Type of turbine: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
For posting a log to an existing waymark, you will need to post a unique picture of the power station. If is not open to the public, please do not enter private property. A picture from the distance is sufficent. If it's possible to enter the machine hall, a picture of it would be nice. Please add some additional informations if possible.