Repower : and the concession-granting municipalities initiate a further step in the approval process (04 24 15 Chlus hydropower plant)

04-24-2015 Chlus hydropower plant: Repower and the concession-granting municipalities initiate a further step in the approval process

In what was a major step in terms of the realisation of the Chlus hydropower plant project, today, Friday 24 April 2015, the twelve concession-granting municipalities and Repower signed the concession agreements. They also signed the request for concession approval, which the municipalities and Repower will submit jointly to the canton. This moves the approval process for the project into a decisive phase. The Chlus plant has been classified as a project of national importance by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, and will single-handedly contribute 12 per cent to the national target for increasing hydropower generation by 2035.

The agreements have been signed today on the basis of clear votes in favour of granting the relevant concession at municipal assemblies or the ballot box in all twelve municipalities affected. The concession agreements grant Repower the right to use water in the specified catchment areas in the municipalities involved for a period of 80 years. In return the municipalities will receive water rates and free energy.

The signing of the agreements and the imminent submission of the request for concession approval mark another major step in the approval process for the project to build the plant, currently the biggest hydropower installation (with the exception of pumped-storage) planned in Switzerland.

Major contribution to energy targets
Repower plans to build power generation facilities in the Prättigau/Rhine Valley area with an installed capacity of around 62 MW generating some 237 GWh of electricity annually. This corresponds to the annual requirements of around 60,000 households with average consumption of approximately 4,000 kilowatt hours per year, and would constitute almost a doubling of the volumes currently generated in the Küblis, Taschinas, Schlappin and Klosters installations in the Prättigau. The investment costs will come to around CHF 380 million, and construction is expected to take four to five years. The Swiss Federal Office of Energy has rated Chlus as a project of national importance because it would make a significant contribution to targets to expand generation of hydropower under the federal government's energy strategy. The project would also meet the requirements of the amended water protection legislation by eliminating positive and negative surge from the river Landquart and enabling fish, especially the brown trout, to navigate the stretch.

However, the current economic environment makes it impossible to go ahead with delivering the Chlus project at present. Even though hydropower is basically a low-cost way of generating electricity, production costs at the Chlus installation, at around 11 cents per kilowatt hour, would be well above the market price, which is currently running at some 4 cents because of problematic subsidy schemes and a lack of economic momentum in some parts of Europe. In this environment it is only possible to build subsidised plants in Switzerland at present. The extent to which generation projects such as Chlus would benefit from subsidies of this sort depends on how public opinion develops. A concrete outcome is still not in sight, even though the debates in parliament (the Swiss National Council) at the end of 2014 and decisions made by the Council of States committee conducting preliminary discussions on the matter indicate that this problem is basically recognised.

The signing of the agreements today and the imminent submission of the request for concession approval signal the partners' commitment to moving ahead with the approval process despite the hostile environment that currently prevails. "Repower is convinced that expanding hydropower generation capacity will be key to successful implementation of the energy strategy. A failure to go ahead with projects such as Chlus would be tantamount to challenging the energy strategy and renewables as a whole," says Felix Vontobel, Deputy CEO and Head of Generation/Grid at Repower. He continues: "Hydropower is a plannable, manageable domestic source of energy that still has potential in Switzerland, and this potential has to be harnessed." For this reason Repower will continue to work on the project. The goal is to be ready once conditions improve and make it possible to go ahead with construction.

Twelve concession-granting municipalities
The plan is to build the Chlus hydopower plant in the in the Prättigau/Rhine Valley. The concession-granting municipalities are Küblis, Luzein, Fideris, Jenaz, Furna, Schiers, Grüsch, Seewis, Landquart, Malans, Zizers and Maienfeld.

The concession-granting municipalities are local communities from whose territory water will be taken to generate energy.

In 2014 the electorates in all these municipalities voted clearly in favour of granting the relevant concessions to Repower.

Note:
Repower held a media conference on the signing of the concession agreements and the request for concession approval on 24 April 2015. The presentation handed out at the conference and a graphic on the project can be found at www.repower.com/chlusproject.

Contact:
Felix Vontobel
Deputy CEO
Head of Generation / Grid
CH-7742 Poschiavo, Switzerland
T [phone]
M [phone]
[e-mail]

Werner Steinmann
Head of Media Relations
CH-7742 Poschiavo, Switzerland
T [phone]
M [phone]
[e-mail]

www.repower.com