The ‘Wasserkraft Plessur’ project consortium has decided to reinitiate its ambitious plans for the construction of the Pradapunt hydropower plant in Switzerland, a project that holds the potential to supply electricity to approximately 10,000 households in the future. This development marks a significant stride in augmenting Graubünden’s hydropower capacity.
The new Pradapunt power plant will use the slope of the Plessur between Litzirüti and Pradapunt to produce 42GWh of hydropower each year. Among its critical objectives is bridging the existing gap in the power plant cascade on the Plessur and curbing the detrimental discharge fluctuations from the Litzirüti power plant, which have been impacting the local natural environment.
The ‘Wasserkraft Plessur’ consortium comprises three key partners: Arosa Energie, IBC Energie Wasser Chur, and Axpo. Originally, these entities had united their efforts and embarked on planning the Pradapunt power plant in 2014, but due to unfavorable economic prospects, the project was put on hold in 2017. Now, with improved framework conditions, the consortium is looking to advance their plans.
The consortium's immediate aim is to submit a revised license application over the course of the upcoming year. However, given the complexity of license and building application procedures, the consortium partners may only be able to make investment and construction decisions by 2027. Subsequently, the actual construction of the power plant is expected to take approximately three years.
