Randonnée été : Les hameaux au fil de l'eau
There is water and stockings
The history of the water and the hydroelectric developments will be told to you in this circuit with breathtaking views.
The history of the water and the hydroelectric developments will be told to you in this circuit with breathtaking views.
The first hydroelectric developments in the commune of Vaujany date from the end of the 19th century.
The context in brief: Mr. Aristide Bergès operates a turbine for the first time using only the power of water. This is what he will say: "The mountain glaciers can, when used as driving forces, be for their region and for the State riches as precious as the coal of the depths. When we look at the source of the thousands of horses thus obtained and their powerful service, the glaciers are no longer glaciers; it is the mine of white coal from which we draw, and how much preferable to the other." It is a revolution for our valleys, here we produce electricity, it is a form of modernism. Metallurgy companies are setting up in the Romanche valley, near Livet. They are large consumers of energy. The nature of the mountain terrain offers many opportunities that were exploited well before the Grand Maison dam project.
In 1908, a first private hydroelectric power station of the Compagnie de l'Eau d'Olle was installed in Verney. The men went down to the factory to work. As the standards were not those of today, some were electrocuted. It was not uncommon to come across a person with an amputated arm or leg. It was not until 1946 that EDF was created. Before, on the family farm, there was a light bulb in the living room, above the table, and another in the stable. The factory closed, and switched the power to the inhabitants. There were no switches. The meters would not arrive until the years 59/60, leaving some people grumbling about paying for this luminous halo. The pipe that carries the water to the hydroelectric power station. The water comes from the Grand Maison dam, which takes its name from the Grand Maison buried when it was filled. It passes through the mountain. Then it is regulated at the balance chimney, and finally transported to the EDF plant and ends its journey in the Verney lake. A special feature: the water from the Verney lake is "re-pumped", passes back through the mountain and returns to its initial lake, that of Grand Maison. EDF spends electricity to pump the water, an operation that turns out to be surprising! Why waste electricity for an unnatural manipulation? Quite simply because the gain in passing it again is greater
The context in brief: Mr. Aristide Bergès operates a turbine for the first time using only the power of water. This is what he will say: "The mountain glaciers can, when used as driving forces, be for their region and for the State riches as precious as the coal of the depths. When we look at the source of the thousands of horses thus obtained and their powerful service, the glaciers are no longer glaciers; it is the mine of white coal from which we draw, and how much preferable to the other." It is a revolution for our valleys, here we produce electricity, it is a form of modernism. Metallurgy companies are setting up in the Romanche valley, near Livet. They are large consumers of energy. The nature of the mountain terrain offers many opportunities that were exploited well before the Grand Maison dam project.
In 1908, a first private hydroelectric power station of the Compagnie de l'Eau d'Olle was installed in Verney. The men went down to the factory to work. As the standards were not those of today, some were electrocuted. It was not uncommon to come across a person with an amputated arm or leg. It was not until 1946 that EDF was created. Before, on the family farm, there was a light bulb in the living room, above the table, and another in the stable. The factory closed, and switched the power to the inhabitants. There were no switches. The meters would not arrive until the years 59/60, leaving some people grumbling about paying for this luminous halo. The pipe that carries the water to the hydroelectric power station. The water comes from the Grand Maison dam, which takes its name from the Grand Maison buried when it was filled. It passes through the mountain. Then it is regulated at the balance chimney, and finally transported to the EDF plant and ends its journey in the Verney lake. A special feature: the water from the Verney lake is "re-pumped", passes back through the mountain and returns to its initial lake, that of Grand Maison. EDF spends electricity to pump the water, an operation that turns out to be surprising! Why waste electricity for an unnatural manipulation? Quite simply because the gain in passing it again is greater
