Welcome to the Muséoscope of Serre-Ponçon lake

The hydroelectric plant of Serre-Ponçon produces about 700 million kWh per year, which corresponds approximately to the consumption of the departement of the Hautes-Alpes. With an output of 380 MW (1/3 of a nuclear reactor), it is the most powerful hydroelectric plant in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region, and one of the most powerful in France.

But Serre-Ponçon is the reservoir from where the EDF canal of the Durance starts. The latter carries the water stored in the reservoir of Serre-Ponçon and runs over 250 km, down to the Saint Chamasplant, located on the banks of the Etang de Berre. Throughout this channel, 15 hydropower plants successively turbine the water.

Upstream of the Lake Serre-Ponçon, 8 hydropower plants were built on the Durance and its tributaries. With the plants of the Verdon, a tributary of the Durance, the entire hydroelectric chain of the Durance - Verdon gathers 32 plants. This assembly forms one of the five most important hydraulic deposit of France (1 / 6th of the advanced hydraulic means).

19 power plants of the Durance - Verdon chain are remotely controlled by computer and simultaneously from the joint command post of Sainte-Tulle, near Manosque. This centralized operation ensures synchronized functioning with a capacity of 2,000 MW, the equivalent of two nuclear reactors.

Within 10 minutes, this production potential can be mobilized, a valuable asset to respond in real time to changes in the consumption of electricity or to deal with failures of the electrical system.