Precast Concrete Components for the Energy Transition – Part III: Hydropower

By the year 2015 up to 45 % of the gross power consumption in Germany should be covered by renewable resources, for example by hydropower. Part 3 of our series shows which role precast concrete components play for hydroelectric power plants, such as storage power plants or storage reservoirs, for example.

In Germany, water power (hydropower) is almost exclusively used to generate electricity. About 3.5 % of Germany‘s annual gross power generation is produced in hydroelectric power plants. This is most obviously indicated by the storage reservoirs and dams consisting of many thousand cubic meters of reinforced concrete. About 20 % of the large hydroelectric power plants are storage power plants and 80 % of them are run-of-river power plants. However, owing to the geographical layout of Germany, the potential of such building structures is almost exhausted. Consequently, scientists and...

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