Too expensive and too little use: The Niederwartha pumped storage plant near Dresden will remain shut down. A hearing of experts has shown that resuming operation as an electricity storage facility would be "economically irresponsible and highly inefficient", according to the municipal utility company Sachsenenergie. In recent years, all options - from renovation to new construction - had already been examined, it said. More than 245 million euros would have to be invested, taking into account the protection of historical monuments.
The pumped storage plant, which was commissioned in 1929, is now owned by the energy company Vattenfall, which decommissioned the facility in 2024.
The efficiency of the pumped storage plant is reportedly significantly lower than that of modern battery storage systems. According to Sachsenenergie, renovating or building a new pumped storage plant would cost twice as much as building a new battery storage facility using modern technologies. In addition, the plant is located in a flood zone - the plant was already damaged by the Elbe flood in 2002.
