Official name Centrale de La Coche Location Aigueblanche, Savoie Commission date 1975 Operator Électricité de France | Country France Status Operational Upper reservoir La Coche Reservoir | |
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Similar Alps, Bissorte Dam, Grand‑Maison Dam, Tignes Dam, Castello di Charbonnières | ||
La Coche Power Station (French: Centrale de la Coche), also known as Sainte-Hélène la Coche, is a hydroelectric power plant in the commune of Aigueblanche (near Moûtiers), in Savoie, France. It is one of the six main pumped-storage hydropower plants in France.
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Map of Centrale de La Coche, 73260 Aigueblanche, France
DesignEdit
This subterranean power station uses both pumped-storage and the gravity of natural stream flow to generate electricity through four reversible Francis turbine generator assemblies. The water is first taken from La Coche Reservoir (Cuvette de la Coche), then passes through the power station, and finally drains into the Aigueblanche Dam on the Isère River.
The four turbines then permit the water to be pumped from the Aigueblanche Dam (also known as the Echelles d'Annibal Dam) back up to the reservoir at a 1,400-meter (4,600-foot) elevation.
La Coche Power Station was originally a prototype for the Grand'Maison Dam, which also functions as a pumped-storage system. La Coche's installed power capacity is 320 Megawatts. Its hydraulic head of 927 m (3,041 ft) gives a flow rate of 40 cubic meters per second (1,400 cubic feet per second) and an average annual output of 480 gigawatts.