Swiss government to revitalize hydropower

POSCHAVIO, SWITZERLAND - Because of the country's climate and landscape, Switzerland benefits greatly from hydroelectric power. In the 1970s, hydroelectric power accounted for 90 of the electricity generated in the country.

However, after the introduction of nuclear power, that figure steadily declined to 56. As of now, Switzerland has around 540 hydropower plants, 47 of which are run-of-river plants and 49 of which are storage power plants. The remaining 4 are pumped-storage power plants. In April, the Swiss government announced that it wanted to increase the prevalence of hydroelectric power as part of the country's plans to increase the use of renewable energy.

Raetia Energie AG announced the decision to change its name and corporate identity to Repower AG REPP in April this year. As part of the change and the Swiss government's desire to increase hydropower, the company announced that it has various power projects in the works, including a $1.45 billion 1.15 billion-euro grassroot pumped-storage power station. REPP has finished the detailed design of the power station, which will be located close to Lake Puschlav, near Camp Martin, and is currently in the permitting process.

If permits are obtained in a timely manner, REPP will begin construction of the Puschlav pumped-storage power station early in 2013. Civil site construction will more than likely take the longest amount of time REPP plans to construct 10 miles of pressure tunnels to connect the power to two storage lakes, Lake Puschlav and Lake Bianco. The power station will house four 250-megawatt MW reversible pump turbine-generator sets that are scheduled to go online in 2018.

Once commissioned, the Puschlav power station will have a production capacity of 1,000 MW that will be utilized in the local grid.