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Cleuson-Dixence

Shareholders

Alpiq 7/22 and Grande Dixence 15/22.

Production

Prior to the construction of the Cleuson-Dixence it took approximately 2,200 hours to empty the Grande Dixence dam, that is to say with the turbines operating at full power for 11 hours a day from October to April. The new Cleuson-Dixence installation enables production to be concentrated in just 1,000 hours, thus multiplying the production capacity of the Alpiq hydroelectric complex and the Grande Dixence by 2.5 times. In just three minutes it is possible to inject the same power as a large nuclear power station into the grid at a very high voltage.

Principal activities

Constructed entirely underground between 1993 and 1998 by EOS and Grande Dixence at a cost of CHF 1.3 billion, the installation comprises:

  • the new water intake drilled in the Grande Dixence dam
  • the 15.8 kilometre long head race tunnel
  • the surge chamber installed in the buttresses of the Dent-de-Nendaz
  • the 4.3 kilometre long blind shafts
  • the Bieudron underground power station

Bieudron power station - alt. 481 m

3 Pelton turbines - total power: 1,269 MW (1,395 MVA)
Height of fall: 1,883 m
Connection to the grid 380 kV


Three world records are held here: the height of fall, the power per turbine and the power per pole of the alternators.

After being out of service for nine years due to the breakdown of the high-pressure shaft, the power station will start running again at the end of 2009.


The Cleuson-Dixence complex is closely linked to the operation of the activities of Grande Dixence SA and Chandoline.

 

Grande Dixence dam

alt. 2365 m

 

Construction: 1950 - 1964
Commissioned: 1961 -1965
Type: gravity dam
Height: 284 m
Crown: 700 m
Retention capacity: 385 mill. m³
Surface area: 4.04 km²