Forstsee power station, Pumped-storage power station in Techelsberg, Austria.
Forstsee power station is a storage power plant in Saag, Techelsberg, with a villa-style machine hall on the shore of Lake Wörthersee. It has a 2.4 MW turbine and a head of about 160 m from the Forstsee reservoir, whose usable capacity is 4.7 million m³. The building, planned by Franz Baumgartner, has been a protected monument since 1995 and contains a twin Pelton turbine visible from a glass-walled area.
Adolf Wolf, chairman of Klagenfurt's municipal electricity works, proposed the plant in the early 1920s to end winter power shortages. The Kärntner Wasserkraftwerke-AG, founded in Klagenfurt on 28 January 1923 with 600 million kronen, built it and a central Carinthian grid; the plant opened in 1925. Renamed Kelag in 1939, the company became the Kärntner Elektrizitätsaktiengesellschaft in 1948.
The station was designed by Franz Baumgartner and incorporates Art Nouveau style in its architectural details. The building shows how industrial facilities of this era blended practical engineering with decorative design choices.
The site can be reached via the Saag/Wörthersee Forstseewerk stop, located about 200 meters from the main entrance. Visiting on clear days allows better views of the water storage systems and surrounding landscape.
The station uses a Pelton wheel mechanism in its operations for power generation and storage. This special system allows for efficient use of water power to distribute electricity across the Austrian grid.
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