On 23 October 2009 following a 20 month construction period, Alpiq Holding Ltd. commissioned a new industrial power station in Monthey (Swiss canton of Valais). The efficient combined heat and power station is rated at 55 megawatts electrical power and 43 megawatts thermal power. With 80 percent, the power station has a very high efficiency.

Alpiq officially opened its new Monthel industrial power station on 23 October 2009 in Monthey (Valais). In his speech, CEO Giovanni Leonardi referred to the importance to Alpiq of the Valais as a location for power stations. It has always been a strong and reliable homeland. "This is due to the traditional good and constructive cooperation with the canton and the location municipalities", said the Alpiq CEO in front of around 100 invited guests. Amongst them was the Valais Councillor (Regierungsrat) Jean-Michel Cina, the Mayor of Monthey Fernand Mariétan, and the Chairman of the Board of the Compagnie industrielle de Monthey SA (Cimo).

466,000 tons of process steam and 456 gigawatt hours of electricity
The modern cogeneration power station replaces a part of the old power supply system of the Cimo company, which is based in Monthey. It generates 43 megawatts of thermal energy and 55 megawatts of electrical power. This equates to an annual output of 466,000 tons of process steam and 456 gigawatt hours of electricity. The system outputs the steam and a part of the electrical energy via Cimo to the three companies BASF, previously Ciba SC, Syngenta and Huntsman. The remainder of the electricity is fed into the local medium-voltage power grid.

The new combined heat and power station has a high efficiency of 80 percent. This means that 80 percent of the primary energy is converted into useful heat and electrical energy. Unlike a gas-fired combined cycle power station, the plant primarily produces process steam for the requirements of the chemical industry. As a result of the optimal heat-power coupling, the efficiency is some 20 percent higher than a conventional thermal power station. Since 2004 Alpiq, together with two chemical companies, has operated two similarly designed cogeneration power stations in Novara and Vercelli in the north of Italy.

Alpiq company KAM supplies turn-key system
For the construction of the power station Alpiq founded the Monthel SA subsidiary in 2007. Cimo is concurrently customer and supplier; it is an industrial partner of Monthel since the company supplies the gas but it also purchases the steam. Furthermore, Cimo will take over responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the combined heat and power station. The plant was supplied as a turn-key system by the Kraftanlagen München GmbH (KAM), a company belonging to the Alpiq Group.

Related Information

• Monthel
• Alpiq builds high-efficiency industrial power station in Monthey
• "Tagesschau" Report on Swiss TV, 23 October 2009