Swiss 'water battery' boosts Europe's energy storage plans

05 Dec 2022 CW Team

A 2-billion-Swiss franc (€2.05 billion/$2.10 billion) project could help stabilise Europe's increasingly expensive electricity as it shifts to renewable energy.

The water battery, Nant de Drance, located between two reservoirs in a cave 600 m (nearly 2,000 ft) underground in the Swiss canton of Valais, is being described as a big step in Europe's transition to green energy. Europe will need to develop 200 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030 — more than fourfold its current capacity, the European Association for Storage of Energy estimates.

The project, which took 14 years to finish, is made up of 17 km (10.5 miles) of underground tunnels, housing six huge turbines powered by water cascading down a steel pipe in a cavern the length of two football fields. At the peak of construction, 650 workers were on-site, working to excavate some 1.5 million cubic meters of mountain rock at an altitude of 2,000 m.

The project involved raising the water level of one of the two reservoirs, the upper one (Vieux-Emosson) by 21.5 meters to double its capacity. It now holds as much water as 6,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools (25 million cubic meters of water).

Crucially to its success, Nant de Drance uses variable speed pump turbines. This means the power-pumped hydropower plant can switch from pumping at full power to running the turbine at full power within five minutes. The volume of water passing through the turbines, 360 cu m a second, corresponds to the flow of the Rhone River in Geneva in summer.

Infrastructure Transport

18 Dec 2025

RVNL secures Rs 1.65 billion railway bridge project from North Eastern Railway

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from North Eastern Railway for a Rs 1.65 billion railway infrastructure project, strengthening its order book and showcasing its expertise in complex railway construction.The project involves constructing the substructure of a major railway bridge over the Gandak River, located between Paniyahwa and Valmikinagar stations. This is part of the doubling of the Gorakhpur Cantt–Valmikinagar railway section, aimed at improving line capacity and operational efficiency.The bridge will feature 14 spans of 61 metres each, built on double D-t..

Raebareli’s Modern Coach Factory rolls out 15,000th railway coach

The Modern Coach Factory (MCF) at Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh has achieved a major manufacturing milestone with the rollout of its 15,000th railway coach on December 15, the Ministry of Railways said.In a press note, the ministry said that MCF has already produced 1,310 coaches in the current financial year 2025–26, reflecting sustained high output at one of Indian Railways’ most advanced passenger coach manufacturing units.Established in 2007 at Lalganj in Raebareli district, MCF was built at a cost of Rs 31.92 billion with an initial annual production capacity of 1,000 coaches. The factor..

RailTel wins Rs 260.88 million IT infrastructure order from VOC Port

Navratna public sector undertaking RailTel Corporation of India has secured an IT infrastructure order worth Rs 260.88 million from V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (VOC Port), strengthening its presence in port-led digital transformation projects.According to an exchange filing dated December 16, 2025, RailTel has received a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) from VOC Port Authority for the implementation of advanced IT infrastructure at the port. The project is domestic in nature and is scheduled to be completed by August 15, 2026.The company said the order has been awarded in the normal course of ..