Located in the municipality of Sumvitg, the new power plant firm will undertake the expansion of the existing hydropower plant using the Russein stream between the Barcuns reservoir and the Vorderrhein power plant.
The Sumvitg and Disentis/Mustér have already granted the new water rights for an operational term of 80 years to the Kraftwerk Russein founding consortium. The concession got approval from the Canton of Graubünden government in January 2012.
AHS owns 60% of the new power company, while the two municipalities own 15% each and the remaining 10% is owned by the Canton of Graubünden. AHS will operate the power plant.
Following establishment of the new firm, Kraftwerk Russein board of directors have decided to proceed with the construction of the plant, which will have about 24MW installed capacity and could produce nearly 67GWh per year.
Electricity generated the expanded Russein power plant in future would serve power needs of about 17,000 households in the Surselva region. The total investment will amount to around CHF100m ($107.7m).
Construction of the plant is expected to begin in April 2013 and the expanded power plant facility is likely to enter operation in the spring of 2015.
