The water reservoirs for artificial snow production could fulfill a second task.
There are currently 121 storage ponds in the Salzburg ski areas. So far they have mainly been used to produce artificial snow. That should change, according to the “Small Hydropower Austria” association. Managing director Paul Ablinger demands that the water storage tanks also provide energy. “According to estimates, 73 of the 121 storage ponds in Salzburg are suitable for generating electricity,” says Ablinger. He believes that the state should push the expansion of small hydroelectric power plants, especially in storage ponds. In the ski areas, small pumped storage power plants would also be possible in the artificial lakes that already exist, which could compensate for fluctuations in the power grid and would be relatively cheap, efficient energy storage.
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