CMS advises VERBUND on planning approvals – important milestone for the PCI project "Riedl energy store"
Stuttgart – At a ceremony with Bavaria's Minister President Dr Markus Söder, Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger, Minister of the Environment Thorsten Glauber and District Councillor (Landrat) Raimund Kneidinger, VERBUND received two central planning approvals, including one for the pumped storage power plant "Riedl energy store" on the Austrian-Bavarian border. The pumped storage power plant with a flexible output of 300 MW has been on the European Commission's list of projects of priority European interest as a PCI (Project of Common Interest) for many years. With Riedl, VERBUND is strengthening grid stability in Bavaria and Austria, significantly reducing future CO₂ emissions and driving forward investments in Bavarian hydropower which will total around EUR 1.7 billion by 2030.
A CMS team led by Dr Ursula Steinkemper has been advising VERBUND and the project sponsor Donaukraftwerk Jochenstein AG comprehensively on this project for several years and provided legal advice on the water law planning approval procedures. The focus was on various environmental and planning law issues as well as strategic procedural management and coordination with authorities and stakeholders.
VERBUND is one of the leading producers of electricity from hydropower in Europe and operates 22 run-of-river power plants with an output of around 1,040 MW in Bavaria and on the Austrian-Bavarian border. With the Riedl energy store, the company is expanding its storage portfolio to include a highly flexible system that can temporarily store surplus wind and solar energy and retrieve it in a matter of seconds. The approval was handed over on 16 September 2025; the start of construction for water ecology measures on the Austrian side is scheduled for the beginning of October 2025. The project is a central building block in securing the electricity supply in Bavaria and Austria and supports the further expansion of renewable generation capacities.
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