Repower celebrated its 120th anniversary

Repower‘s history began in 1904 with the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in Campocologno. Hydropower remains at the heart of Repower‘s strategy to this day. Repower is the only energy company in Graubünden to be active along the entire electricity value chain. In its anniversary year 2024, Repower published the highly recommended book “Strom Werke Menschen – 120 Jahre Repower”. The book deals with questions such as why Europe‘s largest high-pressure hydropower plant was built in Valposchiavo 120 years ago, why the construction of the Küblis power plant led to one of the most momentous economic debacles in the canton of Graubünden and why the company was managed by one family for over 80 years.

The history of Repower begins in the very south of Graubünden – in Valposchiavo. The company was founded on June 14, 1904, at that time still under the name Kraftwerke Brusio (KWB). The first high-pressure power plant with Lago di Poschiavo as a reservoir and the headquarters in Campocologno was the largest of its kind on the continent when it opened. The electricity produced was initially mainly exported. Far from the Swiss consumer centers, Valtellina and Milan were the main customers. From 1908, KWB supplied electricity for the electrification of the private Bernina Railway and later also the Rhaetian Railway. After the Second World War, more and more electricity was supplied to the north via the Bernina Pass.

Close ties with Italy

The company experienced its greatest expansion in 2000, when KWB merged with the Rhaetian Works for Electricity and Bündner Kraftwerke AG to form Rätia Energie AG. Ten years later, the company was renamed Repower. The impetus for the merger in 2000 came from the canton of Graubünden, which had acquired the shares in Bündner Kraftwerke AG from Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (NOK) three years earlier. In 2004, the group was expanded to include aurax ag, based in Ilanz.
The close connection between the company and Italy that was established in the early days still exists today. Rezia Energia Italia was founded in Milan in 2002 (Repower Italia since 2010). In addition to its sales activities in Switzerland and Italy, Repower is now present in the most important Central European trading centers through its trading locations in Poschiavo and Milan.