Eight projects planned for the expansion of hydropower in Valais
Published: Wednesday, Jan 10th 2024, 13:40
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The federal government has approved the planning of eight projects to increase winter hydropower production in Valais. This step now allows the planning procedures for each of these projects to be continued at local level.
The eight projects, five in Upper Valais and three in Lower Valais, should enable an increase in winter electricity production of 1,250 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, as the canton writes in a press release on Wednesday. This should help to reduce electricity imports into Switzerland during the cold season.
"Every winter, the country has to import an average of 6,000 GWh from the European market," explained Joël Fournier, head of the Valais Energy and Hydropower Service, in March 2023 when asked by the Keystone-SDA news agency when the eight projects were included in the cantonal structure plan.
The expansion of winter production requires an increase in storage capacity. This will be made possible by using natural reservoirs created by glacier retreat, raising existing dams or building new ones. Specific plans include a reservoir in Oberaletsch Klein and the construction of a new dam at Gornerli above Zermatt. There are also plans to raise dams in Griesssee, Chummensee, Mattmark, Moiry, Toules and Emosson.
Consensus and consultation
The selected sites were those on which a consensus had been reached at the federal round table on hydropower. The canton of Valais then consulted the concession communities, the operators of the hydropower plants concerned and the environmental associations.
In June 2023, it proposed including the eight projects in the "regulated coordination" category. This approach has now also been approved by the federal government.
©Keystone/SDA
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