Pumpspeicherkraftwerk Versetz - Teil vom Kaunertal-Projekt

Recently, newspapers have frequently mentioned the “Versetz Pumped Storage Power Plant,” while the term “Kaunertal Power Plant Expansion” has almost disappeared. Why is that? The newly introduced name is confusing, so we want to clarify what it actually means. The project plans for the “Kaunertal Power Plant Expansion” include a total of three power plants: “Prutz II,” “Imst II,” and “Versetz.”

Currently, water from the existing Gepatsch reservoir in Kaunertal is sent to the turbines of the existing Prutz power plant. That same water is then used again in the existing Imst power plant. The same principle is now planned for the Prutz II and Imst II power plants. In addition to the existing Prutz and Imst plants, these new facilities will also use water from the Gepatsch reservoir. To make this possible, additional water from the Ötztal valley must be diverted into the Gepatsch reservoir. These power plants are said to generate electricity from “natural inflow” – even though it’s hardly natural for the Venter and Gurgler Ache rivers to be channeled through a tunnel into the Kaunertal valley and into the Gepatsch reservoir.

Ausbaupläne Kraftwerk Kaunertal Karte (c) WWF Österreich 2022 — *Overview map of the Kaunertal Power Plant Expansion project, created by WWF Austria, 2022.*

The third planned power plant, Versetz, is intended to be a pumped storage power plant (PSKW). Its upper reservoir would be built in Platzertal, allowing water to be pumped back and forth between Platzertal and the existing Gepatsch reservoir. From an isolated perspective, the PSKW Versetz does not generate electricity but rather stores it: it primarily operates using water that has been pumped to a higher elevation beforehand.

Since the opposition became too loud and the overall Kaunertal power plant expansion project too unpopular, TIWAG has now split the project and is seeking a “partial decision in the ongoing proceedings” for the Versetz power plant and the Platzertal reservoir. Conveniently, there is no longer any talk of expanding the Kaunertal power plant—now, it’s only about the Versetz pumped-storage power plant, a part of the overall project. However, it remains just that—a part: the project components that depend on water from the Ötztal, namely the water diversions and the Prutz II and Imst II power plants, are still included in the project documents. As long as these are not completely removed, we assume that the strategy of pursuing a “partial decision” is merely a case of salami tactics, intended to cause confusion and weaken opposition to the plans.

TIWAG has already proven at least twice this year that it says one thing and does another. First, with the Sellrain-Silz “project modification” (1), and now again with its promise not to destroy the Pfundser Tschey. According to the project documents, Platzertal was supposed to be accessed via a tunnel from Kaunertal so that “the Pfundser Tschey area would not be affected and no new access road through Platzertal would need to be built” (2). Now, all of a sudden, lorry traffic is deemed necessary. This particularly means that a wide, lorry-accessible road would have to be levelled and asphalted into Platzertal—one that is unlikely to disappear after construction is completed.

The plans for the PSKW Versetz include the following:

The reservoir in Platzertal, for which a dam approximately 120 metres high and 450 metres wide is to be built slightly further up the valley from Platzeralm.
A road suitable for lorries, running from Pfunds via Pfundser Tschey to the construction site.
Construction and disposal areas in the Kaunertal, near the existing dam (see the following illustration).
One or two tunnels from Kaunertal to Platzertal—one for the pressure tunnel and one as an access tunnel. It remains unclear whether the access tunnel (intended to supply the construction site) is still part of the plan.
The underground power station.