Compagnie Nationale du Rhône

The CNR was founded on May 27, 1933 and received in 1934 the exclusive government concession for the channeling of the Rhône in terms of navigability and energy on the basis of the law ( loi d' aménagement du Rhône ) of 27 May 1921. 1935, work began at the river port of Lyon (Port Édouard Herriot ), only in 1980 was the Rhone from Lyon navigable to its mouth for large barges. From 1937 to 1948, the CNR built their first hydroelectric power plant, the dam Génissiat. By 1986, followed by 18 more.

Today, the CNR operates along the Rhône 19 hydropower plants with a total capacity of 16 billion kilowatt hours per year. This corresponds to about 3% of French electricity production and 25% of energy from hydro power in France. The CNR is so according to the EDF 's second largest producer of electricity in France. Since 2002, it is independent of the EDF, since 2004, she sells her power itself It is therefore the most important competitor of EDF on the French electricity market.

In 1946, when the French nationalized energy sector and the EDF was built, the integration of the CNR was provided. On the initiative of the President of CNR, Léon Perrier, and the Mayor of Lyon, Édouard Herriot, this has been postponed to a later date, which has not occurred to date. Nevertheless, the CNR is mostly publicly owned: the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations holds 29.43 % and various local governments 20.62 % of the shares. Private minority shareholder with a share of 49.95 % since 2003, the Belgian utilities Electrabel.

Weblink

• The CNR website ( in French)

• Utilities (France)
• Company (Lyon )
• Hydroelectric power plant operators
• Founded in 1933
• Aktiengesellschaft ( France)