Energy Environmental associations and power plants reach agreement on Grimsel project

Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG (KWO) and the major environmental associations have reached an agreement on the Grimsel project. Eight measures are to compensate for flooded habitats, as the organizations wrote in a joint press release.

The planned enlargement of the reservoir will cause a glacier foreland to be flooded. For this reason, the associations and KWO have been looking for replacement measures, according to the press release issued on Friday.

Pro Natura, the WWF, the Foundation for Landscape Conservation, the Swiss Fishing Association, the Swiss Alpine Club, the Bernese Cantonal Fishing Association and Aqua Viva are involved in the agreement.

The raising of the Grimsel dams has a long and controversial history. In 2005, the KWO submitted a planning application for the enlargement of Lake Grimsel. The Federal Supreme Court ruled that the KWO must have the project approved in a concession procedure rather than a construction procedure. At the end of May this year, the KWO submitted a concession application to the Canton of Bern.