Lechstaustufe 18 – Kaufering, Hydroelectric power station and barrage in Kaufering, Germany
Lechstaustufe 18 is a hydroelectric power station and barrage on the Lech River near Kaufering that captures water flow to generate electricity. The facility contains multiple turbines built into the water system that continuously produce energy from the river.
The run-of-river power station has operated since 1975 and is listed in the Bundesnetzagentur's power station register as BNA1169. In 2015 a fish ladder was added at a cost of 2.2 million euros, allowing fish to pass the 13.3 m drop.
The reservoir, about 2.4 km long and 0.6 km wide, is used for local recreation and by an angling club. East of the water the Lechleite rises about 30 m, while the Lechfeld plain stretches west. At the southern end lies the market town of Kaufering.
The barrage sits at river kilometre 76.9, between Landsberg am Lech and Augsburg, on the territory of the Markt Kaufering. The reservoir behind it is about 2.4 km long and 0.6 km wide, with the roughly 30 m high Lechleite slope to the east and the Lechfeld plain to the west. The stretch south of the reservoir down to Lechstaustufe 15 – Landsberg is one of the few largely free-flowing sections of the Lech.
The fish ladder added in 2015 cost 2.2 million euros, a figure that sets it apart from the plant's earlier construction. It lets fish bypass the 13.3 m drop of the barrage. The reservoir behind the barrage is about 2.4 km long and covers roughly 75 ha.
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