As a power plant operator, Verbund wants to connect the last interrupted habitats in this area by 2027 and make them structurally “barrier-free” for the fish.
Following on from projects that have already been implemented, the Schärding-Neuhaus, Passau-Ingling, Jochenstein, Aschach and Ybbs-Persenbeug power plants will be equipped with fish bypasses and large areas of the banks will be renatured. According to Verbund CEO Michael Strugl, it is a project with Europe-wide dimensions. It is important to reconnect habitats in front of and behind power plants and to recreate lost habitats.
“In the future, fish and other aquatic creatures will be able to migrate from the Iron Gate to Bavaria. The more networked a habitat, the more stable the ecosystem,” says Michael Amerer, Managing Director at Verbund Hydro Power. One wants to give back the Danube and Inn “what is due to them” and combine power generation with biodiversity.
In any case, similar projects that have already been implemented have been successful. “We have already used 150 million euros of the previously planned investments in renaturation and fish passability of 280 million euros by 2027. With LIFE Blue Belt Danube Inn, we are now implementing another project for future generations,” says Verbund board member Achim Kaspar. One connects to previous renaturations. The Austrian-Bavarian power plants AG and Verbund are investing 60 million euros in the measures, with the EU contributing eight million euros. The power plants Jochenstein (Danube, Engelhartszell), Schärding-Neuhaus (Inn) and Passau-Ingling (Inn) receive fish bypasses. Likewise, the Danube power plants in Aschach and Ybbs-Persenbeug will be as barrier-free as possible.
This will make the Danube passable for fish by 2027. Bank structures on the Danube and Inn are also planned in order to create habitats and protected spawning zones. The focus is on those fish that need connected habitats as medium-distance migrants. Examples are grayling, nase, barbel and sterlet. The accessibility of the power plants allows populations to be connected. The project follows on from the parallel LIFE project Riverscape Lower Inn. (sedi)
Source: Nachrichten
