- Le niveau d'eau du barrage de Salanfe est bas au point de pouvoir observer des berges habituellement immergées. © Salanfe.ch/webcam
The water level in the Salanfe dam reservoir is low this summer. This situation is explained by a winter with little snow and limited rainfall, but it does not pose any danger or cause for concern regarding electricity production.
In Salanfe, the normally submerged riverbanks have been visible for several weeks. However, despite an unusually low water level, the situation remains within normal limits for this time of year. According to Michael Plachy, head of hydroelectric production at Alpiq, several factors explain this decrease.
"Overall, rainfall this year has been quite low, and especially snowfall has been lower ," he explains. The melting snowpack, which gradually replenishes the reservoirs between May and July, has therefore provided less water than in a typical year.
The case of Salanfe is, however, unique: unlike many large Valais dams, it is not fed by glaciers. "Normally, the effect is offset by glacial melt. At Salanfe, we don't have this additional supply ," explains Michael Plachy.
🎧 Michael Plaschy, Head of Hydraulic Production at Alpiq
A lower reserve, but adapted management
The current lake level is nevertheless far from critical. Salanfe is not considered a strategic facility for Switzerland's electricity supply. "It's not going to impact security of supply in Switzerland ," the Alpiq representative reiterated.
The dam currently holds approximately 3 million cubic meters of water, compared to an average of nearly 9 million over the last ten years. This is a significant drop, but it comes after a very low year in 2025. "Last year, we were at 2 million cubic meters, so we were even lower ," emphasizes Michael Plachy.
"It is not the Salanfe dam that will impact the security of supply in Switzerland."
Adaptation to the market
Production is also adapted to the availability of the resource. When the lake is less full, operators carefully manage when the water is used in order to maximize its value. "When the lake is a little empty, it also means that we have been able to optimize the use of that water ," he explains.
In the longer term, operators are closely monitoring climate change. To anticipate changes related to glacial melt, Alpiq collaborates with scientific institutions such as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) to develop various scenarios for evolving water supply. The goal: to guarantee hydroelectric storage and production capacity for the coming decades.
🎧 Michael Plaschy, Head of Hydraulic Production at Alpiq
/LT
