Birr power station — Switzerland

Birr power station is a 250.4 MW gas power station in Birr, Switzerland. It ranks #17 of 174 Switzerland power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2023, it is around 3 years old — recently built. In context, gas supplies about 0.4% of Switzerland's electricity; the national grid averages 39 gCO₂/kWh (97.7% low-carbon) (2025).

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GOGPT_birr_switze.

Data provenance

Capacity and fuel are the upstream open-dataset record, not yet matched to a 2026 registry or GEM entry.

capacity: GEM GOGPT; fuel: GEM GOGPT

In context: how this plant compares

Technically it is described as OCGT. Its current lifecycle status is “Mothballed” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.

Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #1 largest gas power plant of 3 in Switzerland by capacity.

Switzerland has 3 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 349 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

• Windisch · Hydro · 1.6 MW · Aargau
• Turgi · Hydro · 1 MW · Aargau
• Wettingen · Hydro · 25.4 MW · Aargau
• Wettingen-Dotierzentrale · Hydro · 2.1 MW · Aargau
• Kernkraftwerk Beznau · Nuclear · 760 MW · Aargau
• Beznau · Hydro · 19.5 MW · Aargau

Location

Coordinates 47.4374, 8.2149 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions