New trash rack at Neckarwerk plant

After 30 years of service, the rake screens at the Neckarwerk plant in Tübingen had reached the end of their useful life and required complete replacement. Stadtwerke Tübingen installed a needle weir, drained the intake and sealed the entire system before work began in June 2024. The new trash rack cleaners protect the turbines from leaves and branches. Whereas the original technology moved floating debris into a container, it is now fed straight back into the river. This is more ecologically sound and reduces cleaning time from five to two minutes. Consequently, more water flows into the turbines, thus increasing the power output of the hydropower plant. Stadtwerke Tübingen completed this key modernisation step at the end of February 2025.