IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2016 - 76
history
Gerhard Neidhöfer and Wilfried Fischer
a masterwork in Europe
Rheinfelden hydroelectric power plant
W
W H E N T H E R H E i N f E l dE N
hydroelectric power plant was put into
operation in 1898, the players involved
must have felt extremely gratified and
also proud for having been part of this
outstanding achievement of such size
and output. But they could hardly have
imagined that the electric system, as
selected, would also set standards for
the revolutionary new energy source
called "electricity" and assure the best
start conditions for interconnected operation with upcoming generating
plants. As seen from today's perspective, all this dormant potential became
reality, and the vision "electric power
from Rheinfelden" evolved into a highly successful story.
The late 19th and early 20th centuries were marked by the work of outstanding
inventors, engineers, and entrepreneurs, chiefly in Europe and North America,
to develop electric supply systems to meet generation, transmission, distribution, and ever-growing customer utilization needs. The 1898 Rheinfelden hydroelectric power plant, located on the Upper Rhine River border between
Switzerland and Germany, played a major role in the application and promotion of many technical achievements that have become part of today's advanced power supply system.
Rheinfelden was the first large-scale generating station in Europe, and it
later became the initial element in what is now the interconnected network
covering most of continental Europe. Rheinfelden was also an early pioneer
in demonstrating and promoting three-phase alternating current (ac) power,
now widely used throughout the world, and 50-Hz ac frequency, which became
the standard frequency in most countries and on 4.5 continents. This history
article, coauthored by Gerhard Neidhöfer and Wilfried Fischer, tells the story
of the unique part Rheinfelden played in creating what has become known as
First Large-Scale Power
Plant in Europe
today's "Electric Age."
in the time period before Rheinfelden,
as of the mid-1880s, the transition from
direct current (dc) to alternating current (ac) technology had, thanks to higher
voltages, opened the way to considerably
expand the supply area of electricity and
transmit electric power over long distances. There was also the move from
individual to centralized electric power
generation, operated under the responsibility of municipal or other public authorities or private companies.
Early generating stations had rather
modest power levels of some hundreds
of horsepower, as, for example, the
historical hydropower station lauffen
engineering from the Technische Hochschule, Darmstadt, Germany, and the doctor
Prof. Dr. Neidhöfer, born in Germany, earned the Dipl.-Ing. degree in electrical
of science degree in applied mathematics from the Université de Grenoble, France.
He joined Brown Boveri Company (BBC) in Baden, Switzerland, before graduation
and enjoyed a 39-year career working there in the large generator and motor business. Since retiring in 1996 from Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), the successor to BBC,
he has served as an expert consultant to the company. He has lectured widely on
various aspects of electric machines and has been a frequent contributor at international conferences, having authored more than 40 technical papers (including
two previous history articles for IEEE Power & Energy Magazine), coauthored several
books on electric power engineering, and published a highly regarded book covering the roots of three-phase ac technology and its promoters. Gerhard has been an
active IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) member since 1984 and was named an IEEE
Fellow in 1999 "for contributions to the development of electrical machines and to
the international harmonization of electric machinery standards."
Wilfried Fischer, born in Germany, earned the Dipl. Ing. degree in power
engineering from the Technische Hochschule, Darmstadt, Germany. He joined
76
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPE.2016.2573878
Date of publication: 17 August 2016
(continued on p. 78)
ieee power & energy magazine
september/october 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2016
IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2016 - Cover1
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IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2016 - Cover3
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