Hydroelectric Power Station Innergsteig
Renewable Energies Part III. As part of the focus topic "Energy Transition", Impact Gstaad presents representatives of solar, hydro and wind energy.
Specialists in action
Beat Allemann, Operations and Maintenance Specialist at BKW, and Jürg Stettler, head of the Simmental/Saanenland power plant group, are greeted by freezing cold as they step out of the small cable car cabin on the Sanetsch above Gsteig near Gstaad on this Thursday morning at the end of January. Every fortnight the dam wall of the Innergsteig hydroelectric power plant has to be checked for its condition as well as for any damage. That's what the dam regulations stipulate.
The two men strap snowshoes to their winter boots and struggle for 15 minutes through the untouched snow down to the dam wall, where they first check the plant components in the apparatus chamber in the control room. Then they venture into the dark corridors of the 200-metre-long dam wall, which is exposed to enormous pressure due to the water masses of the reservoir. Using a taut metal thread and a corresponding scale, the specialists detect the smallest movements of the dam wall. "If we were to detect a major deviation here, we would have to take further measures immediately," explains Jürg Stettler.
A remarkable output
The Innergsteig power station, the largest hydroelectric power station in the Saanenland region, is an impressive example of sustainable energy generation through hydroelectric power. A penstock leads from the reservoir some 800 metres down into the valley, where the water is directed to a Pelton turbine that drives a generator. With an installed capacity of 18 megawatts, this generates up to 43,000,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. This is enough to supply around 8,000 households with electricity. By comparison, one wind turbine at the JUVENT wind farm on Mont Soleil generates electricity for around 1,500 households. And yet Beat Allemann does not want to play renewable energies off against each other. On the contrary: "The strength of renewable energies lies in the interplay of the different forms of energy - with all the advantages and disadvantages."
Learn more
Innergsteig power stationFocus topic "Energy Transmission"
At the Impact Circle Day in June 2022, Impact Gstaad launched the focus topic "Energy Transmission". On the one hand, Impact Gstaad offers projects and start-ups the platform to present their innovations in the field of energy transition to potential investors. On the other hand, Impact Gstaad documents on its online platform which efforts in the field of renewable energies are already being made in Switzerland and especially in the Saanenland.
