The exploratory tunnel for the proposed Lünerseewerk II in Bürs has reached a depth of 200 meters. The tunnel, which should be 800 meters deep, will provide information regarding the rock composition. The preparatory work on the two-billion-euro project has already commenced, and the tunnel’s excavation began on Tuesday. The Lünersee II pumped storage power plant, which aims to be a major energy storage facility to help stabilize the grid during fluctuating energy peaks, is expected to produce 1,000 megawatts of power once completed. The state of Vorarlberg is working consistently to remove bureaucratic barriers to renewable energy projects. The tunnel construction project is anticipated to conclude by the end of the year, with the plant expected to be finished in six to seven years, and the construction blueprint planned for release by late 2024.
Energy
The exploratory tunnel for the planned “Lünerseewerk II” in Bürs is already 200 meters deep. It should be 800 meters deep and provide information about the composition of the rock. The preparatory work for the two-billion-euro project has already begun. The “attack” of the tunnel was officially committed on Tuesday.
The Lünersee II pumped storage power plant is a mega-project in which the state-owned energy supplier illwerke vkw will invest around two billion euros. With an output of 1,000 megawatts in turbine and pump operation, the power plant is intended to become an important balancing storage facility in order to smooth out the strongly fluctuating energy peaks from wind and photovoltaic generation and thus stabilize the grid.
Implementation of the huge project is picking up speed
After a long period of planning, the concrete preparatory work for the large-scale project is now beginning with the exploratory tunnel. “This is an important starting point on the way to implementation,” said Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP) at the attack ceremony on Tuesday: “The implementation is now picking up speed!”
Wallner emphasized that the state of Vorarlberg is still working flat out to remove bureaucratic brakes on the energy transition project. From an ecological point of view, the power plant is a technical masterpiece with huge synergy potential, according to illwerke vkw board member Helmut Mennel.
Pumped storage power plants store electrical energy in the form of potential energy in a reservoir. The water is pumped into the reservoir by electric pumps so that it can later be used to drive turbines to generate electricity. In times of low demand, an oversupply of electrical energy is absorbed into the power grid and fed back into the grid at peak times.
Exploratory tunnel is 800m deep
Detailed and well-founded knowledge of the project area is particularly important for reliable planning. Successful test drillings have been carried out for this purpose in the past few months. “For further exploration of the geological, hydrogeological and rock-mechanical rock conditions”, illwerke vkw is now constructing the Bürs exploratory tunnel in the area of the existing substation.
For this purpose, an approximately 800 meter long tunnel with an excavated cross section of around 25 m² will be driven by mining – starting from a niche 650 meters within the existing “Bürs window tunnel”. 200 meters of this tunnel were now accessible for the first time.
All of the work on the tunnel is expected to last until the end of this year. It will take a total of six to seven years to complete the plant. The exact plans for the construction should be available by the end of 2024.
The development of sustainable and renewable energy sources is becoming more important than ever in a world facing climate change challenges. The proposed Lünersee II pumped storage power plant in Vorarlberg is a testament to this commitment. The project, which is said to be the largest of its kind in Austria, aims to produce 1,000 megawatts of energy while also being a balancing storage facility to maintain grid stability. The construction of an 800-meter exploratory tunnel is already underway, and if all goes as planned, the power plant will be completed in six to seven years. As we continue to seek reliable and sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels, innovative projects like Lünersee II give us hope for a cleaner and greener future.