BKW and aventron bring the Turbach hydropower plant online in Saanen

The new 2.5 MW run-of-river plant in Saanen, in the canton of Bern, is expected to produce about 7.3 gigawatt-hours of renewable electricity a year.

BKW and aventron have commissioned the Turbach hydropower plant, which was connected to the grid on October 30, 2026. The run-of-river plant has an installed capacity of 2.5 megawatts (MW) and is expected to produce about 7.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity a year.

The plant is operated by Kraftwerk Turbach AG, a company set up for the project and owned 55% by BKW and 45% by aventron. The two partners invested about CHF 16 million in the project.

According to BKW’s project description, the operators leave residual water in the Turbach so that fish can still live in the affected stretch, and support a habitat restoration project of the Schwellenkorporation Saanen to improve fish passability and habitat along the river.

“For Switzerland’s energy future, every additional kilowatt-hour from renewable sources counts,” says Margarita Aleksieva, Executive Vice President Energy Production at BKW. Eric Wagner, CEO of aventron, says that with the Turbach plant, aventron has realized a demanding project together with BKW.