St. Moritz Energy

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St. Moritz Energy

logo
legal form Public law institution
founding 1913
Seat St. Moritz , Switzerland
management Patrik Casagrande (Managing Director), Michael Pfäffli (President of the Administrative Commission)
Number of employees 26 (as of December 31, 2016)
sales 22.7 million CHF (as of December 31, 2016)
Branch power supply
Website www.stmoritz-energie.ch

St. Moritz Energie ( Romansh San Murezzan Energia ) is a locally active energy supply company and dependent public company in the municipality of St. Moritz ( Graubünden , Switzerland ). The company operates its own hydropower plant and supplies around 8,000 customers via the power grid in the communities of St. Moritz, Celerina and in some cases Champfèr .

The company also supplies part of St. Moritz Bad with heat from renewable sources via an energy network. St. Moritz Energie has 26 employees plus around three apprentices.

history

From the first power station in Switzerland to the sale of the stock corporation

The first electric light on the square in front of the Kulm Hotel.

The company was founded in 1891 under the name of "Aktiengesellschaft für Elektrischen Licht". The society came into being at the request of the St. Moritz community and an “initiative committee” under the leadership of Caspar Badrutt, son of the Graubünden hotel pioneer Johannes Badrutt . He had already given the impetus to electrify the Upper Engadine when he installed a small power plant powered by the water power of the Brattasbach in the carpentry workshop of the Kulm Hotel. The power plant had an output of 4 hp and was used to put Switzerland's first direct current arc lamp into operation. Johannes Badrutt had the inspiration for the use of a lighting system based on the so-called Jablochkoff system at the international world exhibition in Paris in 1878 .

In 1912, the AG for electrical lighting in St. Moritz took over the upper and lower power stations in the innschlucht. With the acquisition, both power plants bear the name "Electricity of the municipality of St. Moritz."

The Society for Electric Lighting initially aimed to provide the public with electrical energy in St. Moritz, and from 1904 also in the neighboring municipality of Celerina. As the name of the company suggests, it should initially provide electricity for electrical lighting.

In order to realize the project, the young stock corporation acquired a water rights concession from the municipality of St. Moritz in 1891 to utilize the Inn slope between Lake St. Moritz and the municipal boundary . In accordance with the concession agreement of January 10, 1891, the St. Moritz municipality transferred the common land required for the entire facility and received an annual rent of "5 francs per horse power actually used " as well as other allowances. The concession contract lasted 60 years - but the municipality was entitled to buy the company after just 20 years.

In the same year, the public limited company began construction work on a new power plant in the Inn Gorge. The power plant went into operation in 1892 and was located above the Kulm plant privately built by Johannes Badrutt in 1887. Thus, in 1892, two plants were in operation in the Inn Gorge: an “upper” and a “lower” power plant. This was acquired by the stock corporation in 1912.

From the integration into the community to the expansion of the Islas power station

In 1913 the municipality of St. Moritz asserted its right of repurchase and acquired the two hydropower plants of the joint stock company for CHF 300,000. At the same time, on April 1, 1913, she founded the St. Moritz power station as a subsidiary.

The power station building is to the right of the Inn, and a new reinforced concrete bridge creates the connection with the other bank and the access road.

The years after the First World War were characterized in the Upper Engadine by a consolidation in the electricity sector. The question of a merger of EW St. Moritz with other companies only came to an end in 1923 with the municipal vote when the sovereign decided not to sell the company.

At the beginning of the thirties, EW St. Moritz decided to renew the 40-year-old power plants in the Inn Gorge. Although the economic crisis that began in 1929 slowed the expansion of Grisons hydropower, in 1930 the communities of St. Moritz and Celerina approved a loan of one and a half million francs for the construction of the new Islas power plant. In addition to this plant, only three other power plants started operating in Graubünden in the 1930s. The gradient between Lake St. Moritz and the end of the Inn Gorge - called Islas - where the Inn flows into the Celerina plain was used. The water intake took place when the Inn outflowed from the lake at Punt da Piz. The water flow to the headquarters took place in a covered canal from the lake to the mountain bar. From here the water was led into a tunnel to the moated castle . A pressure pipe led from the water lock to the Islas engine house, where the water drove two Francis turbines. A third turbine was added in 1938. The plant had an installed capacity of 3.5 MW.

The St. Moritz Bad substation increases the security of supply and guarantees that the 1974 Alpine World Ski Championships will run smoothly.

From the Second World War to the construction of the new administration building

The Second World War caused energy shortages throughout Switzerland. The Federal Council passed two resolutions to promote previously unused bodies of water to increase winter production.

In response to this call, the communities of St. Moritz, Stampa , Sils and Silvaplana agreed to use the Upper Engadine lakes as a compensation basin and thus to increase the winter production of the Islas power plant by increasing the water flow in winter. The vote of October 14 and 15, 1944 in the municipality of St. Moritz on the approval of the contracts for the use and regulation of the Upper Engadine lakes was clearly accepted. The necessary construction work took place in the summer of 1947 and included the construction of two weir systems in Silvaplana-Champfèr and in Sils-Baselgia. The construction work for water storage in Lake Sils and Silvaplana increased winter production in 1947/48 from the previous 80,000 kWh to around 520,000 kWh.

The economic upswing of the sixties also reached the Engadine and in response to increasing energy consumption, the St. Moritz power station built the new Islas substation . It went into operation in 1962. In 1974, EW St. Moritz built a second substation in St. Moritz Bad to enable the World Ski Championships to run smoothly .

Although the company had already built a new workshop in 1971, this was still logistically separated from the administration. It was not until 1987, with the construction of the new Punt da Piz office building, that the entire company could be united under one roof.

From the new network control center to today

After around two years of preparation, the new network control center was opened on February 29, 1992 . This made it possible to monitor even remote stations around the clock and to intervene remotely if necessary.

The new network control center and the new control room were inaugurated in 1992.

Until 1996, two companies supplied their electricity customers in the municipality of St. Moritz: the municipality's own St. Moritz power station and the AG Bündner Kraftwerke. This regulation dates back to 1927, when the areas of Champfèr, Suvretta and parts of St. Moritz-Bad were assigned to AG Bündner Kraftwerke , then Rhaetian Electricity Company. After the termination of the concession agreement, a new solution was found with AG Bündner Kraftwerke, which provided that the St. Moritz power station expanded its supply area and took over all parts of the Grisons power stations that were located on St. Moritz soil.

In 1992 the 60-year water rights license for the Islas power plant expired. In addition, a large part of the electromechanical system components had remained in operation unchanged since the control center was commissioned and had to be replaced. Various legal and political investigations meant that it took another 13 years before the new license was granted. Demolition work began in 2007. The renovation of the Islas power plant, which was built 75 years ago, took nine months. On December 21, 2007, the machines were taken over as planned by the St. Moritz power station. The power plant officially went back into operation on January 1, 2008.

As an “ energy city ”, St. Moritz is committed to a sustainable energy policy and is committed to pursuing an environmentally conscious strategy in the energy sector as well. In 2008, this strategic direction led the St. Moritz electricity company to change its name to “St. Moritz Energie »and to communicate this step with a contemporary logo.

Interior view after the renovation in 2007.

In 2013, St. Moritz Energie built the new St. Moritz Bad energy network. Individual buildings, such as the new Ovaverva indoor swimming pool, were connected to the district heating network. The heat from Lake St. Moritz and the waste heat from the Ludains ice arena serve as an energy source . The following buildings are connected to the energy network: Hotel Reine Victoria, Ovaverva indoor swimming pool, St. Moritz Bäder AG, St. Karl Church, Malloth Holzbau AG, Coop Bellevue, Bellaria apartment building.

In 2016, the property at Via Signuria 5 was converted with the aim of realizing two new residential floors with different apartments. In addition to the workshop and magazine, parts of the administration, mainly customer reception, have been made more comfortable and attractive.

A year later, St. Moritz Energie started to renovate the Islas substation in order to bring it up to date with the latest technology.

production

Thanks to the Islas power plant, St. Moritz Energie produces around 20 percent of the electricity consumed in the communities of St. Moritz and Celerina itself. The other part buys St. Moritz Energie in the wholesale market. The power station consists of three groups of machines driven by Francis turbines. The smallest turbine serves as a doping machine for processing the residual water that is released from the power station to the Inn Gorge. The system uses a net head of 51 meters and a maximum flow of 10,400 l / s. The total output is 4.4 MW, which corresponds to an average annual production of 17 GWh.

In addition to the Islas hydropower plant, St. Moritz Energie also operates its own photovoltaic systems with an annual production of around 300 MWh.

The inlet channel is a rectangular concrete channel which opens into the rifle chamber. The channel tunnel has a circular profile and is approx. 187 meters long.

Sales and distribution

With around 8,000 customers, the company is a major electricity supplier in Graubünden. Customers include households as well as SMEs, mountain railways and the public sector.

The municipalities of St. Moritz, Celerina and parts of Champfèr belong to the supply area of ​​St. Moritz Energie. In 2016, total sales amounted to 108 GWh of electricity.

Customers can choose between the standard supply with around 50% hydropower and the ecological product Clean Power St. Moritz .

The company is active in the field of electric mobility and a member of the clearing and payment platform Ostmobil .

network

The St. Moritz Energie power grid is geographically located in the area of ​​the communities of St. Moritz and Celerina. It comprises grid levels 5 and 7 as well as the corresponding substation levels. St. Moritz Energie draws electrical energy from the supraregional distribution network (network level 3) in 60 kV and distributes the electricity in the supply area via two substations and over 100 transformer stations.

St. Moritz Bad energy network

As a total energy supplier, St. Moritz Energie put an energy network into operation in 2014 - and expanded it in 2016 - to supply a significant part of St. Moritz Bad with heat from renewable sources. This means that over 1 million liters of heating oil are burned less and around 4,000 tonnes of CO 2 less are emitted each year. St. Moritz Energie received the Swiss Solar Prize 2015 for this project.

In addition to the energy network, the municipality of St. Moritz operates two other heat pump systems : the cooling machine for the Ludains artificial ice rink and the heat pump heating system for the Ovaverva indoor swimming pool. The combined operation of the three systems enables significant synergy potential to be used.

The St. Moritz Bad energy network uses the heat pump from the Ludains ice arena, the St. Moritz Bad energy network and the heat pump from the Ovaverva indoor swimming pool.

literature

  • Emmi Caviezel-Padrutt: The end of the dark nights. Bündner monthly newspaper, Chur. 2008 978-3-905342-40-6.
  • Bündner Elektrizitätswerke. Reprint from Bulletin SEV / VSE. In: Bull. SEV / VSE 69.9 (1978), pp. 406-459.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ St. Moritz Municipality, Law on the Organization and Administration of the Municipal Electricity Works (EW Law) of June 17, 2012. Collection of laws of the St. Moritz municipality. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  2. ↑ St. Moritz Energie, Annual Report 2016. St. Moritz Energie website. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ 1st Annual Report of the Aktiengesellschaft für elektr. Lighting . Tanner printing works, Samedan, 1893.
  4. ↑ Silvio Margadant, Marcella Maier: St. Moritz - Sidelights on an extraordinary development. Verlag Walter Gammeter, St. Moritz 1993, ISBN 3-9520540-0-3 .
  5. ↑ 25 years of the St. Moritz power station. Walter Gammeter Publishing House, St. Moritz 1938.
  6. ^ Franco Milani: The white coal of St. Moritz and Celerina. Montabella Verlag, St. Moritz 2014, ISBN 978-3-907067-42-0
  7. ↑ 25 years of the St. Moritz power station. Walter Gammeter Publishing House, St. Moritz 1938.
  8. ↑ Silvio Margadant, Marcella Maier: St. Moritz - Sidelights on an extraordinary development. Verlag Walter Gammeter, St. Moritz 1993, ISBN 3-9520540-0-3 .
  9. ↑ 25 years of the St. Moritz power station. Walter Gammeter Publishing House, St. Moritz 1938.
  10. ^ Hansjürg Gredig, Walter Willy: Unter Strom. Hydropower plants and electrification in Graubünden 1879–2000. Bündner Monatsblatt, Chur 2006, ISBN 978-3-905342-37-6 . P. 295.
  11. ^ The central Islas of the St. Moritz municipality's electricity company. In: Swiss water and energy industry. 3/1933, pp. 40-45.
  12. ^ U. Keller: The St. Moritz Electricity Works. In: Bündner Sachbuch. 1957, pp. 86-91.
  13. ^ U. Keller: The St. Moritz Electricity Works. In: Bull. SEV / VSE. 5, No. 16, 1959, pp. 804-806.
  14. ↑ Hans Loser: The power station of the community of St. Moritz. In: Bull. SEV / VSE. 75, No. 24, 1984, pp. 1445-1449.
  15. ↑ 1971 annual report of the municipality's electricity company. Verlag Walter Gammeter, St. Moritz 1972, p. 9.
  16. ↑ 1987 annual report of the municipality's electricity company. Verlag Walter Gammeter, St. Moritz 1988, p. 11.
  17. ^ 1992 annual report of the municipality's electricity company. Verlag Walter Gammeter, St. Moritz 1993, pp. 9-10.
  18. ^ Franco Milani: The white coal of St. Moritz and Celerina. Montabella Verlag, St. Moritz 2014, ISBN 978-3-907067-42-0 . P. 81.
  19. ^ Franco Milani: The white coal of St. Moritz and Celerina. Montabella Verlag, St. Moritz 2014, ISBN 978-3-907067-42-0 . P. 79 and p. 85.
  20. ^ Franco Milani: The white coal of St. Moritz and Celerina. Montabella Verlag, St. Moritz 2014, ISBN 978-3-907067-42-0 . P. 89.
  21. ↑ The municipality of Energiestadt and Energieverbund celebrate with an open day. Media release of November 29, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  22. ↑ Construction work on Via Signuria 5. Media release of April 11, 2016. Accessed on October 16, 2017.
  23. ↑ St. Moritz Energie is renewing the Islas substation for 9 million francs. Media release of April 4, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  24. ↑ St. Moritz strengthens self-sufficiency. In zek hydropower. Gruber-Seefried-zek Verlag OG, Werfen 2008, p. 14.
  25. ↑ Annual Report 2016. Gammeter Druck und Verlag AG, St. Moritz 2017. Accessed on October 16, 2017.
  26. ↑ St. Moritz Energie launches “Clean Power St. Moritz”. Media release of November 25, 2015. Accessed October 16, 2017.
  27. ↑ New electric charging stations in St. Moritz and Champfèr. Media release of June 21, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  28. ↑ About us. St. Moritz Energie website. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  29. ↑ Energiestadt and Energieverbund celebrate with an open day. Media release of November 29, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  30. ↑ Flyer Energieverbund St. Moritz Bad. St. Moritz Energie 2013. Accessed October 16, 2017.