It is no secret that water has a strong energetic potential. However, its use to produce electricity is far from being obvious for industrial businessmen of the early XIXth century. The history of the first hydroelectric dam is related to that of Aristide Bergès, the son of a paper manufacturer from the Ariège (France). In the 1860s, Bergès moves in Isère (France), and discovers immense glaciers that give him the idea of using water to power machines. Let’s keep in mind that this is the moment when water mills are developing. Inspired by his observations on them, Bergès uses a stream flow to power paper shredders. Unfortunately the stream alone is not sufficient.
In 1869, Bergès decides to use the energy of a 200 meters waterfall, by channeling it through a big pipe. The water’s high pressure activates a turbine, which powers the paper shredders. What Bergès invented is actually the first hydroelectric dam in France.
Even the most skeptical observers of his time had to admit that Bergès’ idea was ingenious – even though Bergès’ associate himself, Dr. Marmonnier, had expressed his doubts: “I am afraid, like everyone else, of this formidable pressure in only one pipe”.
Later, during the 1889 Universal Exhibition, hydraulic energy is renamed “white coal”, referring to the coal energy, very commonly used at that time. Nowadays, there is a “museum of white coal” in Isère, in tribute to Aristide Bergès.
