The lake of Serre-Ponçon

Description

In the heart of the Hautes-Alpes, the Serre-Ponçon lake is a dream destination for lovers of water sports, swimming and sunbathing! Its beaches, its wild creeks, its 80 km of shoreline... a NATURAL and WATER PARADISE.

The excellent aerological and climatic conditions of the lake make it the ideal spot for kite-surfing and windsurfing, not to mention boating, kayaking or fishing. Serre-Ponçon, it's like being at sea!

Take advantage of the beaches and water sports activities on the Serre-Ponçon lake:
Motorboat rental, sailboat, promenade boat, pedal boat, canoe, sailing, rowing, ... or sunbathing!

The dam of the Serre-Ponçon lake:
Made of materials extracted from the Durance river bed, between 1955 and 1960, the construction of the Serre-Ponçon dam required the displacement of the inhabitants and the destruction of the villages of Savines and Ubaye.
It is now one of the largest earthen hydroelectric dams in Europe. It impresses by its size: 123 m high, 600 m wide and 650 m thick!
The Lac de Serre-Ponçon is the largest artificial lake in Europe in terms of volume (1.2 billion m3 of water).

Serre-Ponçon is the first of the 16 dams and 24 power stations that make up the Durance-Verdone hydroelectric chain. It is the main reservoir, feeding the EDF Durance canal over a distance of almost 250 km.

On average, this chain produces the electricity needed by 2.1 million people per year, the equivalent of the population of Paris itself. Renewable energy with no greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions.

In addition to producing electricity, these structures are a considerable regional asset, playing a key role in the sharing of water in Provence:

- supply of drinking water for more than 3 million people,

- irrigation of 80,000 hectares of agricultural land,

- supply of industrial water for nearly 400 companies,

- drought and flood control,

- development of the tourist economy.