The Ruppoldingen hydroelectric power station, built in 1896, was expanded in 1920 to include a pumped storage power station, whose water reservoir on the plateau of the Born was fed by a pressure pipe through which the water flowed to the turbine in the power station when there was high demand for electricity in the network.
After just a few years, the hydroelectric power station was temporarily unable to meet the electricity demand in the closed regional supply network. A connection with other power stations was not yet possible due to the isolated distribution of the power stations.
With a concession from the Canton of Solothurn on June 30, 1903, the Olten-Aarburg power station built a small high-pressure power station with a storage basin on the Born next to the Ruppoldingen headwater canal, 320 meters higher than the water intake point at the canal. Equipped with a high-pressure pump from Sulzer, a turbine from Piccard, Pictet & Co., Geneva, and a generator from BBC, the plant used energy from the low-pressure power plant to pump water from the Aare into the high-altitude basin when demand was low, and thus produced additional energy when demand was at its peak.
The early high-pressure power plant attracted attention in specialist circles and received many visits from electrical engineers from several countries.
With new machines from 1926, the Ruppoldingen-Born high-pressure plant ran until 1960, when the plant was demolished. The route of the former pressure pipe is now followed by a very long staircase, known as Tusigerstägli, which is also used for sporting events.