The origin

The origin

The roots of the use of water power at this location go back to 1861. At that time, a cotton spinning mill was built in Meiersboden, which had its water wheel driven by the power of the Rabiosa. After a fire at the spinning mill, the town of Chur took over the site and built one of the largest alternating current plants in Switzerland in 1892. In 1901, the current power station was built on Sandstrasse, which used the water from the Rabiosa. Over the following decades, the plant was gradually expanded to meet the ever-increasing demand for energy.

Foundation of the GKC

Foundation of the GKC

After the concession expired in 1981, the town of Chur and the surrounding municipalities of Calfreisen, Castiel, Churwalden, Lüen, Maladers and Praden founded the Gemeinde-korporation Kraftwerk Chur-Sand (GKC) in order to make the use of hydropower from the Plessur and Rabiosa rivers as efficient as possible. In the following years, the plant was successively modernized and automated, so that today only a few employees are needed to ensure the operation of the power plant. After the Rabiosa reservoir was completely buried by mud, debris and stones during a flood in 2002, GKC decided to demolish the dam wall and build a new, modern weir system.

Complete renewal of machine groups

Complete renewal of machine groups

An important milestone was the gradual conversion of all three machine groups, including the auxiliary operations, which began in 2009 and was completed in 2012. The two powerful machine sets at Plessur were equipped with state-of-the-art technology from Andritz-Hydro and ELIN motors. The smaller Rabiosa machine was also replaced. Since then, GKC has been able to cover around a quarter of the city of Chur's electricity requirements with an annual production of around 53 GWh and operate the plant reliably and economically until the end of the concession in 2061.

Technical data

Rabiosa

Year of construction 1892
Destroyed by storm in 2002
Restored in 2004
Upper water level 706 m above sea level
Downstream water level (center) 608.8 m above sea level
Width/height of weir 10.8 m/4.4 m
Capacity approx. 5’000 m3
Pressure pipe 1’034 m
Diameter 0.8 m

Lüen water intake

Year of construction 1947
Upper water level 770 m above sea level
Underwater level (center) 608.8 m above sea level
Weir width/height 17.5 m/3.4 m
Capacity approx. 3’000 m3
Gravity tunnel 5’034 m
Diameter 2.1/2.5 m
Pressure pipe 348 m
Diameter 1.59 m

Machine 1 Rabiosa

Discharge water volume 0.9 m3/s
Net head 89.5 m
Turbine
5-nozzle
Pelton turbine
(Andritz)
Speed 500 rpm
Output 684 kW
Generator
Synchronous generator
(Marelli)
Generator output 950 kVA
Annual production in the standard year 4.55 GWh

Machinen 2 & 3 Plessur

Discharge water volume 3.38 m3/s each
Net head 154 m
Francis turbine
(Andritz)
Speed 750 rpm
Expansion capacity 4’700 kW
Generator
Synchronous generator
(Elin)
Generator output 5’500 kVA
Annual production in the standard year 48.14 GWh

Corporate communities

• Arosa
• Chur
• Churwalden
• Tschiertschen-Praden

Discover all our guided tours

On our guided tours of the Chur-Sand hydroelectric power station or the Quader substation,
you will learn exciting and interesting facts about the power supply in the city of Chur.

Do you have any questions?Please contact us.

contact-cta Contact