The Mellach plant is powered by two Siemens gas-turbines. Once fully operational, it will produce 832 MW of electricity and 400 MW of thermic energy. "The first block is already producing electricity which is supplied to the Austrian power grid; and we plan to have the second block up and running in the coming weeks," Zechner said.
The Mellach plant will ensure the security of electricity supply in Graz, Austria's second largest city, and the industrialized province of Styria.
Verbund decided to realise the Mellach gas-fired power plant with the view to replace aging oil- and coal-fired power generation capacity. "Coal has no future in Verbund's power generation mix as we are moving towards less carbon-intensive fossil power generation," Zechner said.
Hydro power plants currently produce about four fifth of Verbund's electricity supply, while wind energy and gas-fired plants account for the remainder.
Verbund said in an investors' presentation it plans to invest around EUR 2.4b primarily in hydropower plants and grid expansion until 2016, with more than 60% of this amount intended for the domestic market in Austria.
On Wednesday, Verbund posted a 12% drop to EUR 352.6m in its 2011 group result, while operating profit rose 21% to EUR 1 billion.