Storage Power Plants
The Blenio storage power station went into operation between 1959 and 1963. The Luzzone, Olivone and Biasca stations belong to this power plant. All facilities are remotely controlled and monitored from the command centre in Locarno. The concession runs until 2042.
Originally, the power plant turbined the water from the first Dixence dam, which was submerged in 1957 into Lake Dix. Until then, it had held the record for the world’s biggest gross head of water. Chandoline has close links with the works at the Cleuson-Dixence complex.
Before Cleuson-Dixence was built, approximately 2,200 hours were needed to empty the Grande Dixence dam, in other words, the turbines had to operate at full capacity 11 hours a day from October to April.
These facilities in the eastern part of the canton of Valais comprise four power stations and two reservoirs, and are divided into three clearly separated grids. The power stations and their supply lines went into operation between 1964 and 1974. Collectively, the Gommer power stations cover the electricity needs of 44,000 people.
The Gebidem dam is fed by Aletsch glacier water, which is very rich in sediment. The 55 m3/s turbined by the Bitsch power station contain between 10 and 13 kg of sand, or an average of almost 40 tons per hour.
Situated at an altitude of 1930 meters, the Emosson reservoir is partly fed by the waters of the Mont Blanc massif. Energy is generated in the Vallorcine and Martigny-La Bâtiaz stations located around 1,400 meters lower down. The water stored in the reservoir is sufficient to generate electricity to illuminate a city of 250,000 residents.
The Livigno reservoir is a model of international cooperation in the interests of electricity generation, while the Ova-Spin power station with its compensating basin shows how water extracted from the River Inn can be converted into valuable stored energy.
Situated at an altitude of 495 meters, the power station utilises a gross head (vertical drop) of 1643 meters, which represented a world record until 1934. The water is drawn from a reservoir at 2135 meters above sea level. The power plant boasts an unusual feature: a theatre in the former machine house, where performances are regularly held.
As it leaves the Pallazuit station, water from the Dranse is turbined three times more before flowing into the Rhône: at the Orsières station, owned by Forces Motrices d'Orsières, at the Sembrancher station, owned by Romande Energie, then at the Alpiq power plant at Martigny-Bourg.
The Gougra power station harnesses the power of water from Val d’Anniviers and the Turtmann Valley thanks primarily to the Moiry dam, built in 1954 above Grimentz. The dam is 148 meters high and 610 meters long. The water is fed from the reservoir to the power stations in Mottec, Vissoie and Chippis (Navizence).
The Grande Dixence facility collects the runoff from 35 glaciers in the canton of Valais. The jewel in the facility's crown is the Grande-Dixence dam, the highest gravity dam in the world. The water from the reservoir plummets down to the Fionnay and Nendaz power stations.
The heart of these plants is the Valle di Lei reservoir, with capacity for 197 million cubic meters of water. The water is dammed by an arch dam at a maximum height of 138 meters and a crown length of 635 meters.
A special feature of this dam is its design: a double curvature arch dam connected by an abutment. A tunnel more than 20 kilometers in length was built to transport the water into the reservoir, from where it flows through an almost 8 kilometer long line before flowing through turbines to generate electricity.Veytaux power plant - alt 377 m
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The heart of this power plant is the Airolo power station. The two generators with a nominal capacity of 29 MW each are driven by two Pelton turbines. Annual production corresponds to the electricity consumption of the city of Chiasso.
The Maggia power stations harness the power of water from the Maggia and Brenno basins, using the drop between the Gries reservoir and the lake of Langensee. The gross height of approximately 2200 meters is the highest gradient used in Switzerland by a chain of high-capacity storage power stations.
The power plant houses a HYDRO Exploitation SA electrical engineering workshop, which is responsible for the fabrication and repair of certain parts for hydropower plants and for apprentice training.
The Nant de Drance project involves constructing a pumped storage power station in an underground cavern between the existing Emosson and Vieux Emosson reservoirs, a pair of lakes situated in the community of Finhaut. The power station is designed to generate electricity at times of peak consumption.
The Navizence hydroelectric power station in Chippis, built in 1908, will be comprehensively modernised between October 2010 and December 2013.
Construction work on the new Veytaux pumped storage power station has been in full swing since 7 April 2011. Forces Motrices Hongrin-Léman SA (FMHL), in which Alpiq has a stake of almost 40 percent, is investing CHF 330 million in the project. From the end of 2014 the facility on the shores of Lake Geneva will produce twice as much electricity as ...
The reservoir collects water from the Salanfe and Saufla basins. The waters of the Saufla reach the reservoir via the natural gradient of a 4 kilometer-long tunnel. The pressure line between the reservoir and the Miéville power stations situated 1,472 meters lower down has a gradient of up to 95 percent.
The company operates three power stations in Gondo, Gabi and Tannuwald, which harness the power of water from the Simplon massif to generate electricity. The Gabi and Tannuwald stations are remotely controlled from Gondo. Two thirds of the annual electricity production volume is generated in summer.
Waters from various valleys are collected in the Zervreila reservoir above Vals near the Rheinwaldhorn, and used to generate electricity in three stages and in three stations. The annual production volume is sufficient to supply some 110,000 households with electricity.
