KSL: Above-average production year

18.03.21 - The shareholders of Kraftwerke Sarganserland AG (KSL) approved the annual financial statements and confirmed the board of directors at the annual general meeting. Electricity production in the 2019/20 financial year was around 16 percent above the long-term average.

The power plant stages in Mapragg and Sarelli produced a total of 526 million kilowatt hours of electricity in financial year 2019/20. This figure is above the long-term average, which can be attributed to the warm winter with high precipitation. KSL purchased 253 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to power the storage pumps. Annual costs charged to partners rose by around 4 percent year-on-year to 26.1 million Swiss francs. Due to the higher annual costs and the slightly lower production compared to the previous year, the price per kilowatt hour of energy supplied increased from 4.63 to 5 Swiss cents.

"Hydro 4.0" on track

The "Hydro 4.0" pilot project was driven forward in the year under review. Various digital applications were introduced at KSL, tested and their benefits evaluated. As part of "Hydro 4.0," processes in the hydropower plants are to be digitized. KSL is the first digital hydropower plant in Switzerland.

Board of Directors confirmed

KSL shareholders approved the annual financial statements and decided to pay a dividend of 500,000 Swiss francs. The members of the Board of Directors - Yvonne Walser Georgy, Jörg Huwyler, Ferdinand Riederer, Michael Schärli and Hans-Peter Zehnder - were confirmed in office.

Kraftwerke Sarganserland AG is a partner company of Axpo and the Canton of St. Gallen. Axpo holds 98.5 percent of the shares, the Canton of St. Gallen the remaining 1.5 percent.