RegioTriRhena visits the EDF hydropower plant in Kembs

RegioTriRhena besucht das Wasserkraftwerks der EDF in Kembs

RegioTriRhena visits the EDF hydropower plant in Kembs

Together with our members and guests, we visited the EDF hydropower plant on 6 February 2024, where we were welcomed by Sabine Mirtain-Roth, EDF's representative in Alsace.

The EDF hydroelectric power station is a run-of-river power station on the Rhine in Kembs in the Haut-Rhin department. It is the first hydroelectric power plant on the Franco-German Rhine and thus marks the beginning of the Grand Canal d'Alsace in 1932. It has an output of 160 MW. The Kembs hydroelectric power station consists of

- a mobile barrage
- a lock with two chambers for river navigation
- a "main" hydroelectric power station
- two restitution facilities: one at the foot of the dam (power station A) and one at the entrance to the Grand Canal d'Alsace (power station K);
- Fish farming structures to ensure ecological continuity along the Rhine.

On 15 December 2010, the concession for the Kembs hydropower plant (80% France and 20% Switzerland) was extended to EDF until 31 December 2035. In this context, EDF researchers and engineers carried out an extensive project: Generation of renewable electricity, promotion of navigation, renaturation, dialogue with interest groups.

The closing words and our thanks were conveyed by Dr Bernd Dallmann, President of RegioTriRhena. We were then invited by the EDF management to an aperitif and an exchange of views.