The State has put an end to the Rhônergia dam project in one of the last wild areas of the Rhône, announced on Friday the Compagnie nationale du Rhône (CNR), which carried out this highly controversial development project.
“On August 29, the State announced its decision not to continue the project to build a new hydroelectric power station on the Rhône, between Saint-Romain-de-Jalionas (Isère) and Loyettes (Ain)”wrote the CNR in a press release.
The state plans to build a dam with a capacity of 34 megawatts to produce electricity. The site had already been discovered by hydraulic engineers between the two world wars. In the 1980s, Pierre Mauroy’s government championed a project that was later abandoned under pressure from environmentalists and some elected officials because of its disproportionate impact on biodiversity.
In 2022, the State commissioned the Compagnie nationale du Rhône to study the feasibility of a project that would produce energy along the river, from a drop of a few metres. Its reservoir was planned, if the project was launched, for 2032, almost fifty years after the inauguration of the last dam built on the river.
The contributions area is reserved for subscribers.
Subscribe to access this discussion space and contribute to the discussion.
Contribute
Reuse this content
