{"id":4366,"date":"2024-06-28T14:29:55","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T12:29:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleantech-alps.com\/portraits-de-la-communaute\/nant-de-drance-a-european-gigabattery-in-the-heart-of-the-swiss-alps\/"},"modified":"2024-06-28T14:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T12:43:55","slug":"nant-de-drance-a-european-gigabattery-in-the-heart-of-the-swiss-alps","status":"publish","type":"portraits","link":"https:\/\/www.cleantech-alps.com\/en\/portraits-de-la-communaute\/nant-de-drance-a-european-gigabattery-in-the-heart-of-the-swiss-alps\/","title":{"rendered":"Nant de Drance, a European gigabattery in the heart of the Swiss Alps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A country with a reputation as a major player in hydropower, Switzerland has stepped up the role it plays in helping to balance Europe\u2019s electricity grids. The Nant de Drance pumped-storage plant, which has a storage capacity equal to 400,000 electric car batteries, began operating in 2022. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Colossal. With a capacity of 900 MW, the Nant de Drance<\/a> pumped-storage hydropower plant is one of the most powerful in Europe. Following a monumental 14-year construction project which won the Major Tunnelling Project of the Year award in London in 2014, the plant was commissioned in the summer of 2022. \u201cPut simply, this is an enormous environmentally friendly water battery,\u201d explains plant director Alain Sauthier<\/a>. By providing a short-term solution for storing excess electricity produced mainly by solar and wind farms, the plant is set to play a key role in regulating the power grids of Switzerland and Europe. <\/p>\n\n

The upper reservoir, Lac du Vieux \u00c9mosson, has a storage capacity of 20 million kWh. \u201cThat\u2019s the equivalent of 400,000 electric car batteries,\u201d says Alain Sauthier. This facility has really come into its own since the large-scale adoption of renewable energy all over Europe \u2013 which by its nature is not always reliable. \u201cThis plant\u2019s capacity covers more than just Switzerland\u2019s needs,\u201d adds Alain Sauthier. \u201cIt was designed for the European markets, and geographically we are right in the middle.\u201d Pumped-storage power plants like this are used to balance electricity supply and demand, guaranteeing the stability of the power grids and contributing to security of supply. At the heart of the plant, 600 metres underground, are its six reversible pump turbines. \u201cThis installation is very flexible and highly reactive,\u201d claims Alain Sauthier. \u201cWe can switch from pumping at full speed to turning the turbines at full speed, a differential of 1800 MW, in less than five minutes.\u201d The yield of a complete pump-turbine cycle is 80%. <\/p>\n\n

Nant de Drance\u2019s shareholders \u2013 Alpiq, Swiss Federal Railways, Forces Motrices Valaisannes and IWB Industrielle Werke Basel \u2013 have invested CHF 2 billion in the project. Each shareholder is entitled to a share of the plant\u2019s production and pumping capacity commensurate with its investment, managing the energy as it sees fit. The project partners also pool their resources to operate the plant, which does not employ a workforce of its own. Its environmental impact is being offset by 14 projects worth a combined CHF 22 million, most of which work with environmental protection associations to recreate specific biotopes or rewild sites. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A country with a reputation as a major player in hydropower, Switzerland has stepped up the role it plays in helping to balance Europe\u2019s electricity grids. The Nant de Drance pumped-storage plant, which has a storage capacity equal to 400,000 electric car batteries, began operating in 2022. Colossal. With a capacity of 900 MW, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4362,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categorie-portrait":[93],"class_list":["post-4366","portraits","type-portraits","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categorie-portrait-water"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNant de Drance, a European gigabattery in the heart of the Swiss Alps - CleantechAlps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Nant de Drance pumped-storage plant, which has a storage capacity equal to 400,000 electric car batteries, began operating in 2022.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cleantech-alps.com\/en\/portraits-de-la-communaute\/nant-de-drance-a-european-gigabattery-in-the-heart-of-the-swiss-alps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nant de Drance, a European gigabattery in the heart of the Swiss Alps - 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