Editing Black Forest (section)

=== Hydropower ===
[[File:Hornberg Straßerhofmühle.jpg|thumb|The Straßerhof Mill in [[Hornberg]], a typical Black Forest farming mill]]
[[File:Hornbergbecken leer.jpg|thumb|The [[Hornberg Basin]] near [[Herrischried]], upper reservoir of the Wehr [[pumped storage station]] (emptied, May 2008)]]

Due to the large amounts of precipitation and elevation changes the Black Forest has significant [[hydropower]] potential. This was used until the 19th century especially for operating numerous [[water mill|mills]], including [[sawmill]]s and [[hammer mill]]s and was one of the local factors in the industrialization of some Black Forest valleys.

Since the 20th century, the Black Forest has seen the large-scale generation of electrical power using [[run-of-the-river power plant]]s and [[pumped storage power station]]s. From 1914 to 1926, the Rudolf Fettweis Company was established in the Murg valley in the Northern Black Forest with the construction of the [[Schwarzenbach Dam]]. In 1932, the [[Schluchsee]] reservoir, with its new dam, became the upper basin of a pumped-storage power plant. In 2013 the association of the Southern Black Forest's ''Schluchseewerk'' owned five power plants with 14 storage tanks. At the [[Hornberg Basin]] topographical conditions allow an average head of water of 625&nbsp;m to drive the turbines before it flows into the [[Wehra Reservoir]].

In the 21st century, in the wake of the [[German Renewable Energy Sources Act|Renewable Energy Sources Act]], numerous smaller run-of-the-river power stations were re-opened or newly constructed.