Ground-breaking ceremony for more green energy
Saline de Bex, 12 March 2020: Together with the project team, the members of the Management Board of Swiss Saltworks turned the first spade for the expansion of their subsidiary Saline de Bex’s hydroelectric power plant yesterday. The construction work will take till the end of 2022. Once they are completed, the hydroelectric power plant will produce around 50% more green electricity than it does at present.
Swiss Saltworks, owned by the 26 Swiss cantons and the Principality of Liechtenstein, has long been a champion of sustainable and environmentally friendly salt production. It is pursuing a number of projects to achieve more and more efficient use of energy resources at the three sites Bex/VD, Riburg/AG and Schweizerhalle/BL. Part of this programme is the expansion of the Saline de Bex hydroelectric power plant on the River Avançon, adjacent to the production site.
Yesterday, Swiss Saltworks and the responsible project team turned the first spade to initiate this major project. The construction of the original hydroelectric power plant in 1943 marked a turning point in the ecological strategy of Saline de Bex. Replacing fossil fuels by green electricity made the environmentally friendly production of SEL DES ALPES salt possible. The cost of expanding the hydroelectric power plant will come to more than 20 million Swiss francs.
More green energy in the grid
Dr Urs Ch. Hofmeier, Managing Director of Swiss Saltworks, takes great pleasure in this next step in the sustainability strategy: “The expanded power plant is not only in line with Swiss Saltworks’ efforts to achieve sustainable salt production, but also with the National Energy Strategy 2050 which was adopted in 2017 by the people of Switzerland”.
“The future plant will produce 15 GWh a year, which is 50% more than today,” adds Jean-Louis Meylan, Manager of Administration and Finance at the Saline de Bex. “Thanks to the new plant, the share of green energy that we feed into the grid will rise from 4 GWh to 9 GWh per annum. The expanded power plant will provisionally provide electricity up to the year 2082. After that, the concession has to be renewed”.
Pierre Rochat, a senior official of the municipality of Bex, is enthusiastic: “We are glad that Swiss Saltworks is expanding its hydroelectric power plant to produce more green electricity. Once the work is completed, the power plant will have the capability to supply electricity to 2,400 households, which is half of the population of Bex“.
Construction site schedule
The preparatory work for the expansion of the hydroelectric power plant started in January. Because of the current situation with the coronavirus, yesterday’s ground-breaking ceremony was not open to the public. However, Swiss Saltworks plans to hold a big topping-out ceremony to mark the completion of the construction work. The power plant is to be commissioned at the end of 2022.
Media contact
Jean-Louis Meylan, Administrative and finance director Saline de Bex SA
T : +41 24 463 04 86, Jean-Louis.Meylan@saline.ch
Nicole Riethmüller, Head of HR and Communication
T +41 61 825 51 03, Nicole.Riethmueller@saline.ch
Schweizer Salinen, Schweizerhalle, Rheinstrasse 52, Post office box, CH-4133 Pratteln 1
T +41 61 825 51 51, F +41 61 825 51 10, info@saline.ch, www.salz.ch, www.seldesalpes.ch
