Dam wall Lake Oberaar

The Lake Oberaar is located below the Oberaar glacier in the Canton of Bern in the municipality of Guttannen. With its location at 2303 meters a.s.l. it is the highest artificial lake in the region beside the lakes Grimsel, Gelmer and Räterichsboden. It contains 57 million m3 water and thus has the second largest volume of all reservoirs in the power plant area Oberhasli. Since the completion of the dam wall Oberaar in 1954 the water flows directly to the plant Oberaar of the power plant Grimsel 1. With the difference of 533 meters in altitude the power plant generates with a capacity of 35 MW per year totally 40 GWh electric energy. Since 1980 electric energy is produced as well in the newly built power plant Grimsel 2. With four turbines and a total drop of 400 meters, this power plant produces with a performance of 348 MW per year totally 600 GWh. The lake is accessible only via Grimsel Pass and the panorama road.