Largest pumped storage power plant in Europe

2022-12-29

TIME recently recognized Nant de Drance's 900 MW Pumped Storage Power Plant in Switzerland as one of its Best Inventions for 2022, calling it "Europe's energy savior." This $2 billion system is the largest of its kind on the continent and stores up to 20 million kilowatt hours - similar to the capacity of 400,000 car batteries.


Nant de Drance SA owns the facility which boasts six pump-turbine units each with a capacity of 150 MW. The upper reservoir of Vieux Emosson holds 25 million m3 of water and is located 2,200 m above sea level. To construct the plant, 400,000 m3 of rock needed to be excavated and 17 km of tunnels had to be drilled.
For TIME's list, editors and correspondents around the world nominated contenders from growing fields such as electric vehicles, green energy, and the metaverse. The magazine evaluated each contender based on originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact. Along with Nant de Drance, Oscilla Power’s Triton Grid-Scale Ocean Wave Energy Converter was also honored.
This recognition is a huge step forward in stabilizing Europe’s power supply while supporting the transition to renewable energy sources like solar and wind