Kölbrein Dam, Austria

The tallest dam in Austria, at almost 2,000 meters above sea level. This is the record of the Kölbrein Dam, on the Malta River, in the Carinthia region of Austria.

Built between 1973 and 1977, it is a concrete gravity-arch dam, 200 meters high and 620 meters long at the crest. A characteristic of the project was the difficulty of operating in a particularly harsh alpine environment.

Downstream of the dam, three plants operate, the first containing 2 reversible Francis turbines, each with a capacity of 120 MW. The structure also contains a 19,000-meter tunnel and a 1,300-meter drop, which powers 4 Pelton turbines, each with a capacity of 730 MW. The construction of the dam required the building of the 14.4 km long Malta High Alpine Road.