Key facts

  • Location

    France, Gèdre
  • Delivery

    April 2010

  • Customer

    EDF

  • Entreprise

    Bouygues Travaux Publics Régions France

At the heart of the largest hydroelectric complex in the Pyrenees

The largest hydroelectric complex in the Pyrenees, the Pragnères power plant, built in 1954 and operated by EDF, is perched at an altitude of 2,200 meters at the tip of a complex stretching across several valleys and comprising 40 kilometers of tunnels, 5 dams, and 30 water intakes. With a production capacity of 185 MW, it can single-handedly meet the consumption needs of a city of 135,000 inhabitants.

A large black pipeline runs steeply up a rugged mountain slope, supported by extensive metal scaffolding, with a few workers visible at the lower section. The slope is sparsely covered with bare trees, under a cloudy sky with distant power lines at the summit.

Key figures

  • 1,6
    meters in diameter
  • 800
    meters long
  • 500
    meters of elevation gain

Dismantling and rebuilding of a penstock

In 2010, Bouygues Travaux Publics Régions France carried out major demolition and reconstruction work on the lower section of the Pragnères penstock, enabling the power plant's turbines to be supplied from high-altitude reservoirs. The section in question covers a 500-meter drop and is 800 meters long, including 100 meters of tunnel, and is supported by nine reinforced concrete structures that were rebuilt to anchor the penstock to the cliff.

Un ouvrier sur un échafaudage surveille une benne rouge remplie de matériaux, suspendue par un mécanisme de grue jaune et rouge, au-dessus de larges tuyaux gris sur une pente de montagne escarpée et verdoyante, avec une installation hydroélectrique en contrebas.
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