The Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR) has commissioned a new hydroelectric power plant upstream of the historic Vallabrègues dam, built in 1970. This modern facility enhances the site's energy production capacity by utilizing a portion of the river's flow. Featuring an 11-meter drop and an 8.5 MW turbine, the plant generates 60 million kWh annually, equivalent to the electricity consumption of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon.
This project, undertaken by CNR as part of its public interest missions program, also incorporates a 330-meter-long fish ladder. Comprising 46 successive basins, it aims to facilitate the migration of species such as pike, roach, eel, lamprey, and shad, thereby strengthening the fish migratory route from the mouth of the Rhône.
Construction, which began in 2021, involved an investment of approximately 50 million euros. The fish ladder is supported by the Rhône-Saône Plan (water and biodiversity component) and receives €3.21 million in funding from the Rhône Méditerranée Corse Water Agency.
The Vallabrègues plant heralds a new phase of hydroelectric investments. By 2037, CNR plans to commission six more similar plants, along with their associated fish ladders, in Saint-Pierre-de-Bœuf (Loire), Arras-sur-Rhône (Ardèche), La Roche-de-Glun (Drôme), Charmes-sur-Rhône (Ardèche), Donzère (Drôme), and Caderousse (Vaucluse). These new facilities will produce enough energy for 114,000 inhabitants.
The program aligns with the law on the Development of the Rhône and aims to jointly advance electricity production and grid flexibility. CNR is also exploring the installation of 200 MW of storage batteries by 2030 and the construction of small pumped-storage power stations (PSPS) along the Rhône.
“"With this new generation hydroelectric power plant, we reaffirm the Rhône's role in electrifying uses. Its commissioning demonstrates our ability to design, with the territories, modern hydraulic structures that meet the highest environmental standards. Local, renewable, and flexible, hydropower is a cornerstone of a sovereign and decarbonized energy mix."
