Government relaxes water use rules to boost hydropower capacity

The Swiss government plans to temporarily ease water use rules to allow a number of hydropower plants to boost capacity ahead of possible power shortages this winter. A certain number of hydroelectric power plants will benefit from access to increased quantities of water to produce electricity. Dam operators will be permitted to temporarily reduce the amount of residual water that they have to release from reservoirs into lower-lying streams and rivers under Swiss law. This new measure will take effect on Saturday and last for seven months. It should boost electricity production by up to 150 gigawatt hours (GWh), the Federal Council said in a statement on Friday. This corresponds to the annual output of an Aare River power plant. The regulation concerns around 45 of the 1,500 hydroelectric power facilities in Switzerland. It applies to hydroelectric power plants that received a new usage concession after 1992 and for ecological reasons discharge higher amounts of residual water...