Le Pouget is a hydroelectric power station located at
Le Truel, on the
River Tarn, in the department of
Aveyron
Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...
in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. It uses the difference in height between the artificial lakes of
Villefranche-de-Panat and
Pareloup on the
Lévézou
The Lévézou () is a geographical region in the Aveyron department in southern France. It is an impervious crystalline plateau with an average altitude of around 900m. Its highest point is Mont Seigne (1 128 m). Though its borders are not strictly ...
plateau and the river 500 m below. It ranks as the 16th largest station in France. It is part of the complex system that connects the rivers Alrance, Ceor, Viaur, Bage and Violou with the Tarn.
In addition to its 440 MW generating capacity it houses a small pumping station that can return 6.6 m³/s of water from the Tarn to its header reservoir.
Geography
The catchment of this system is on the Lévézou plateau- which is at the western end of the Grandes Causses. The plateau lies between 700 m and 900 m and consist of
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
rocks. It is a landscape of gentle valleys, drained to the north by the Ceor, Viaur, Bage and Violou which flow towards
Rodez
Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...
, and to the south by the Alrance and the Ruisseau de Asseynes which fall steeply into the Tarn. To the south, exploiting a geological fault is the
River Tarn which is at 265 m altitude, and to the south of the river the land rises again to over 600 m. The area is called Les Raspes de Tarn- 30 km to the east is the
A75 autoroute and the
Viaduc de Millau which crosses the Tarn and Dourdan at the level of the plateau. Further east is the town of Millau and the
Karst landscape
Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
of the
Gorges du Tarn. The impervious granites of the Lévézou make this a suitable location for water capture.
Description
The catchment area of Le Pouget is extensive. The Alrance valley was dammed at
Villefranche-de-Panat, creating the 197 hectare
Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat
Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat () is a lake in Aveyron, France. At an elevation of 727 m, its surface area is 1.92 km2.
It lies in the Communes of France, communes of Villefranche-de-Panat and Alrance.
Description
The Lac de Villefranche-de-Pa ...
. The dam at Villefranche is 17.10 m high and holds back 8.66 hm
3 of usable water. This passes by a 5.3 km tunnel to the small 11 ha
Lac de Saint-Amans
Lac de Saint-Amans is an artificial lake in Le Truel, Aveyron, France close to Villefranche-de-Panat, and 500m above the Tarn. At an elevation of 727 m, it has surface area of 0.11 km2. It is captured by the Barrage de Saint-Amans. It is a ...
reservoir, and then by steel
penstocks the last 1.2 km to Le Pouget.
To the north is the
Lac de Pareloup. This is the fifth largest hydroelectric reservoir by area in France having an area of 1260 hectares. It was formed by creating a dam across the
Vioulou, and pumping water 6.4 km, up 80 m from the 53-hectare
Bage reservoir on the Bage river and water from the 200 ha
Pont-de-Salars reservoir on the
Viaur. Waters from Pareloup can be directed either through the downstream Viaur to the power station at
Thuries or through a 10.9 km tunnel to the power station at
Alrance
Alrance (; ) is a commune in France, commune in the Aveyron Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie region of southern France.
Geography
Alrance is located some 30 km west of Millau and about 5 ...
at the head of the Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat. A small amount (3.5 hm
3) is extracted for use as drinking water in
Rodez
Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...
and
Ségala. Pareloup has a catchment area of 376 km
2: 160 km
2 from the Vioulou, Gourde and
Céor, 216 km
2 from the Viaur and Bage. The dam at Pareloup is 43.45 m high and 232 m long- it is 15.87 metres thick at its base, tapering to 2.77 m at the rim. It holds back 167 million m
3 of usable water.
[Energie Midi-Pyrénées (1994)]
Water from Le Pouget exits into the Tarn both above and below the
Barrage du Truel.
[Hydroweb Pouget]
, French, accessed 2012-09-26
Turbines
In 1952, the station was equipped with 3
PELTON type turbines. They take 11 m3/s of water and together generate 127.5 MW. They are denominated G1, G2, G3. In 1983 two new generators were installed. These were G4, a 275 MW
FRANCIS type turbine, the most powerful of its type used in France; and the unique G5 41.5 MW reversible FRANCIS type turbine. Reversible, the latter could
also be used to pump water 461 m up to the lac de Saint-Amans.
[
G4 uses a turbine that develops 286 MW of power, using 74 m3/s of water. At the time of its installation it was the most powerful gravity fed turbine in Europe and in 2012 is still the most powerful in France. This drives an alternator running at 333 revolutions / minute. It is 91% efficient delivering 275 MW (MVA) of electrical energy to the grid at 15.5 kV – that is nominally 10,245 kA.][
]
See also
* La Jourdanie (power station)
* Pinet (power station)
* Renewable energy in France
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
Hydroweb Pouget
in French
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pouget
Buildings and structures in Aveyron
Hydroelectric power stations in France
Pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations in France