The Vallorcine power plant forms part of the Electricité d’Emosson SA hydroelectric complex. This structure is located on the edge of the border on the right bank of the Eau Noire, near the village of Châtelard-Frontière, within the municipality of Vallorcine.
The Vallorcine hydropower plant in France is the higher level of the facility with the same flow of equipment as the lower level to which it transfers water through the Châtelard compensation basin. It features several functions such as:
- Turbining of Swiss water from the East Collector which is not pumped into the dam over the course of the river
- Contributing towards transferring the South collector’s water into the dam with the help of a siphon
- Serving as a pumping station for the East collector in summer to pump back water between the Esserts compensation basin and the level of the Emosson reservoir
- Turbining the water of the Emosson dam on the upper level which then moves towards the lower level in the direction of the Bâtiaz power plant
The Vallorcine power plant is equipped with three vertical-axis ternary units whose rotation speed is 600t/min., 3 Pelton turbines (2 x 80 MW et 1 x 70 MW), 1 50MW Francis turbine and 2 40MW pumps.
Technical file
| Construction year | 1967-1973 |
| Put into operation | 1975 |
| Municipality | Haute Savoie |
| Altitude | 1127m. |
| Max. flow | 35m³/sec |
| No. of units | 3 |
| Installed capacity | 230MW |
Vallorcine hydropower plant in pictures
Vallorcine hydropower plant in pictures
