Instead of constructing a new building, the almost 100-year-old Vermunt power plant in the Montafon valley was comprehensively modernized within its existing structure. Two more powerful machine sets replaced five existing ones – since then, the plant has been generating considerably more clean electricity from the same amount of water.
Since its launch, the Vermunt plant of illwerke vkw AG has made an essential contribution to the power supply from hydropower in Montafon in Vorarlberg. The general overhaul technically modernized the power plant and prepared it for long-term, efficient operation.
At the core of the project was the replacement of the five existing machine sets with two more powerful and efficient turbine units. As a result, annual electricity production rose from 270 to approx. 286 gigawatt hours – with unchanged use of the available water. The new plant technology also considerably reduced maintenance requirements, and the waste heat from the machines is used to heat the buildings.
Instead of constructing a new building, the existing powerhouse was comprehensively modernized. This approach conserved resources, reduced the demand for new building materials and minimized interventions in the sensitive high-alpine landscape.
The general overhaul shows how the existing power plant infrastructure can be developed digitally and sustainably.
FCP was responsible for the design and tender of all construction works as well as the as-built design. Among other things, this included integrating the two new machine sets into the existing power plant structure.
The design of all trades was entirely model-based in 3D. This allowed the interfaces between civil, mechanical and electrical engineering as well as building services to be coordinated at an early stage and design processes to be efficiently aligned. Throughout the entire project, a Common Data Environment (CDE) was used for communication and documentation, providing all parties involved with up-to-date design and project data and ensuring transparent, traceable collaboration.
