| Thermal power plant of Vouvry | |
|---|---|
 View of the factory in 1967. | |
 | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Location | Vouvry, Valais |
| Coordinates | 46°20′49″N 6°52′43″E / 46.34694°N 6.87861°E |
| Status | Decommissioned |
| Commission date | 1965 |
| Decommission date | 1999 |
| Owner | Groupe Orllati (from 2017) |
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Heavy fuel oil |
| Chimneys | 2 |
| Thermal capacity | 300 MW |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 300 MW |
| External links | |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
The thermal power plant of Vouvry, also known as the Chavalon Plant, is a former power station located in the municipality of Vouvry, in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. Until its closure in 1999, the plant utilized heavy fuel oil, combusted to heat a steam generator. The vaporized water then drove a turbine, which powered an alternator.
As Switzerland's sole oil-fired power plant, it was constructed in 1965 by a consortium led by the company Énergie de l'Ouest-Suisse (EOS) to address the wintertime electricity production deficits of Swiss hydropower. Initially planned on the territory of the commune of Aigle in the canton of Vaud, it benefited from its proximity to the Collombey refinery, enabling it to produce electricity at preferential rates. However, by the late 1990s, the plant operation had generated significant financial losses, leading the operators to decommission the site. Since then, several rehabilitation projects have been proposed, but the plant remains abandoned.
The plant site, situated approximately 450 meters above the plain, was constructed to limit pollution. It consists of two plateaus and a slope and includes a main building housing the machine room, a 120-meter exhaust chimney, four cooling towers, a cable car station, and 17 villas, which Chavalon employees previously inhabited. The plant is connected to the Collombey refinery by a pipeline that primarily traverses the Stockalper Canal, which was utilized to provide makeup water. The generated electricity was fed into the Swiss power grid via a 220 kV high-voltage line.