Markersbach
Facts
Country
Germany
Electricity Capacity
1,050 MWe
Stream
Große Mittweida
Head
288 m
Water discharge
6 x 70 m³/s
Turbine type
Francis
Vattenfall ownership share
100 %
Status
In Operation
The Markersbach pumped storage power plant is one of the largest hydropower plants in Europe. Vattenfall's second largest pumped storage plant is on the Mittweida river in the Western Ore Mountains.
History and facts of the Markersbach pumped storage power plant
The six machine sets of the Markersbach pumped storage power plant went into operation between 1979 and 1981. It has installed capacity of 1050 megawatts (MW).
The upper reservoir can hold around 6,6 million cubic metres of working water, enough for the turbines to run at full load for approximately four hours. The power plant needs less than two minutes to go from inactivity to full power (1050 MW). Its rapid availability makes it an important component of the energy revolution as it can respond to the heavy fluctuations in the feed of renewable energy. Pumped storage plants guarantee network stability.