Subglacial water intakes
Argentière glacier
One of the special features of the Emosson facility is the presence of water intakes below the Argentière glacier. It operates on the principle of recovering runoff and meltwater from the glacier using wells drilled in the rock at the rock/ice interface. The water is then fed by gravity to the dam via the South collector.
Melt period mid-April to mid-May
Esserts reservoir
Works in 2020
Overhauling the watertightness of the basin, renewal of the anti-corrosion protection of the reinforced shaft, revision work on the head valve, ancillary works.
Draining of the Emosson dam
Draining
The first draining of the Emosson dam since filling in 1973 took place in winter 2012 in order to inspect submerged parts of the dam and to undertake a necessary overhaul of the security equipment at the facility.
Control room
Bâtiaz power plant
The Bâtiaz power plant is equipped with a cutting-edge control room which allows the proper functioning of the turbines to be monitored and ensures good performance of external sites and everything related to the Emosson facility. An operator is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in order to guarantee good operational functionality.
As the turbines are generally controlled from the Operations Centre and Management Centre in Lausanne (CEG-P), they can be accessed at any time from the La Bâtiaz control room. It acts like the brain of Emosson.