Kölnbrein Dam
Restaurant, View Point, Picnic Area, River or Lake Side, Natural Highlight, Swim (Lake / River / Beach)
t was constructed between 1971 and 1979 and at 200 metres (660 ft) high,
it is the tallest dam in Austria. The dam's reservoir serves as the primary storage in a three-stage pumped-storage power system that consists of nine dams, four hydroelectric power plants and a series of pipeline and penstocks. The complex is owned by Verbund power company and is referred to as the Malta-Reisseck Power Plant Group. The installed capacity of the group is 1,028.5 MW and its annual generation is 1,216 gigawatt-hours (4,380 TJ). While the dam's reservoir was filling, several cracks appeared in the dam and it took more than a decade of repairs before the reservoir could operate at maximum levels.[2][3][4] Currently, the Reisseck II pumped-storage power plant is under construction and will effectively connect both the Malta and Reisseck groups and add an additional 430 MW of production capacity.
It is at the end of the Malta Hochalmstraße (Malta High Alpine Road) which is a Toll road.
The Malta high alpine road leads you through tunnels carved out of the native rock and hairpin turn, go past rushing waterfalls, up high to Austria's highest concrete dam Kölnbreinsperre. Enjoy the view from the glass platform, "airwalk", moreover, there is the alpine hotel restaurant Malta with the exibition "energy world Malta" from Verbund Tips: Guided tour into the dam. Explore the Via ferrata "DAMM HIGH" just next to the dam.
