Switzerland’s first low-pressure turbine commissioned in Martigny-Bourg
Forces Motrices de Martigny-Bourg (FMMB) has commissioned the first Swiss low-pressure turbine. It can generate 850,000 kilowatt hours of electricity in the existing run-of-river power plant in addition to the three existing production units.
The Forces Motrices de Martigny-Bourg (FMMB) have commissioned Switzerland’s first low-pressure turbine. As Alpiq writes in a press release, 850,000 kilowatt hours of electricity can now be generated per year in the underwater channel of the river power plant on the Dranse. The power plant’s current three production units generate 89 million kilowatt hours per year.
Depending on the flow rate, the low-pressure turbine can turbine between 1.25 and 10.2 cubic metres of water per second. It is designed for a head of up to 2.5 metres. It has no additional impact on the environment and does not affect existing electricity production. “The installation of this new low-pressure turbine makes it possible to make the best possible use of the available water resources while at the same time being considerate of the environment,” said power plant manager Georges-Alain Zuber in the press release.
Planning for the plant began in 2011. It is being subsidised with funds from the cost-covering feed-in remuneration.
The power plant was built in 1908 as an electricity generator for Electro-Chimie de Paris. Today, the municipalities of Bovernier with 23.04 per cent, Sembrancher with 18.72 per cent, Martigny with 17.22 per cent, Martigny-Combe with 15.58 per cent and Vollèges with 1.64 per cent as well as Alpiq with 18 per cent and the Valais energy supplier FMV with 5.8 per cent have a stake in FMMB.