4.3 million francs over four years: Birr AG receives millions in compensation for reserve power plant

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The back-up power plant in Birr AG has been operational since the end of March and should produce 250 megawatts of electricity in the event of a power failure. This corresponds to a quarter of the output of the Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant.

The municipality of Birr will be compensated for the operation with up to 4.3 million francs over four years, as announced on Wednesday. The contractual partner of the inconvenience agreement is the power station operator General Electric (GE), which can claim the money from the federal government.

The eight turbines can run on gas, diesel, but also on other fuels such as hydrogen. The federal government estimated the total cost for the term up to spring 2026 at 470 million francs.

A million a year fixed

The 4.3 million Swiss francs consists of a fixed part of one million per year. There is also a variable part of CHF 250 per operating hour, up to a maximum of CHF 300,000. The municipality of Birr writes that GE will pay an initial amount of one million in 2023.

The energy law of the canton of Aargau stipulates that the local municipality can demand financial compensation for tolerating the reserve power plant. The Birr City Council has already decided that part of the compensation should go to the population. Information on this will be provided “in the near future”, according to the announcement. (SDA)

Source:Blick