The installation of large-scale solar power plants in the Swiss Alps would greatly increase the amount of electricity generated in winter and accelerate the energy transition. Congress agreed late last month to move ahead with the plan in a moderate manner, leaving opposition environmental groups frustrated.
Studies have shown that installing solar panels near the top of the Swiss Alps could generate at least 16 terawatt hours of electricity per year. This amount of power is equivalent to about 50% of the annual solar power generation targeted by the Federal Office of Energy (BFE/OFEN) by 2050. In mountainous regions of other countries, China has several large-scale solar power plants, and small-scale installations have been built in France and Austria, but there are currently few large-scale installations in the Swiss Alps.
Solar panels are usually attached to existing infrastructure such as mountain cottages, ski lifts, and dams. For example, in Muttsee in central Switzerland to other sites(2500 meters above sea level) photovoltaic power generation facilities are of this type. Switzerland currently produces around 6% of its total electricity from solar power.
However, due to a sense of crisis about climate change and energy shortages in winter, the country is being forced to fundamentally reconsider. This autumn, a few parliamentarians led the “Solar Offensive”, which calls for a simpler and faster implementation of the construction process for solar power plants in the Swiss Alps.
In parallel, two new proposals were submitted for the construction of solar power plants in meadows in the southern Swiss canton of Valais. One is a project in the village of Gond near the Simplon Pass called “ Gondosolar ”.to other sites, and another, north of Glengiols, with a larger project planned.
The 42 million francs ($60 million) Gondsolar project will install solar on 10 hectares (100,000 square meters) of private land on a mountain near the Swiss-Italian border. The plan is to install 4,500 panels. Landowner and project proponent Renat Jordan estimates the plant will be able to produce 23.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power at least 5,200 homes in the area.
The municipality of Gond-Zwischbergen and the electricity company Alpiq also support the project. At the same time, however, there is also fierce controversy. In August of this year, a group of environmental activists staged a small but raucous demonstration in a meadow at an altitude of 2,000 meters where the plant will be built.
Maren Köln, head of the Swiss environmental group Mountain Wilderness, said: “I fully agree with the potential of solar energy, but I think it’s important to consider existing buildings and infrastructure (where solar panels can be installed). There are still too many, and I don’t see any need to touch undeveloped land before they are exhausted,” he told swissinfo.ch.
The Department of Energy estimates that installing solar panels on the roofs and exterior walls of existing buildings could generate 67 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. This is much more than the 34 terawatt hours of solar power that the authorities are aiming for by 2050 (2.8 terawatt hours in 2021).
Alpine solar plants have several advantages, experts say, not least because they are most active in the winter when power supplies are often scarce.
“In the Alps, the sun is particularly abundant, especially in winter, and solar power can be generated above the clouds,” Christian Schaffner, head of the Center for Energy Sciences at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), told Swiss Public Television (SRF). said.
He also pointed out that solar panels are most efficient when used above the Alps, where temperatures are cooler, and that bifacial solar panels can be installed vertically to collect reflected light from snow and ice.
However, there are still many unknowns about the Alps solar power plant, especially in terms of cost, economic benefits, and suitable locations for installation.
In August of this year, a group of environmental activists staged a demonstration at the planned construction site at 2,000 meters above sea level © Keystone / Gabriel Monnet
Proponents estimate that the solar power plant developed by the Gond Solar project will be able to produce twice as much electricity per square meter as a similar facility in the lowlands.
It will not be built in protected areas or places with a high risk of natural disasters such as avalanches. They also claim that the facilities are not visible from neighboring villages. An application has been filed to include the Gondola project in the state plan, which is currently under consideration. Even if it is adopted, it will not be able to cope with the power shortage that is feared this winter, as it is scheduled to be completed in 2025.
The Glengiols village project, on the other hand, is much larger. Funding is 750 million francs. The plan is to build a solar power plant the size of 700 soccer fields on land at an altitude of 2,000 meters near the village.
Valais senator Beat Rieder told the German-speaking daily Tages Anzeiger that the Grenghiols solar project is immediately viable and will add 1 terawatt-hour of electricity (to the current output). said. Theoretically, this could meet the power demand of a city with 100,000 to 200,000 residents.
Brutal Nature Park, where such a huge facility is a “regional nature park of national importance” to other sites environmentalists are increasingly worried about being installed in
A project in the village of Grenghiols in canton Valais plans to build a solar power plant the size of 700 football fields. SRF
But Grenghiols mayor Armin Zeiter dismissed claims that the solar panels would spoil the landscape, telling SRF that “renewable energy is there to protect nature.” The local authorities adopted the project in June and would like to start it immediately, but the plan has not yet been submitted, and there are many problems such as the adequacy of the installation site and how to connect to the grid. remains unresolved. The German-language weekly Wochenzeitung reported in a recent article about local opposition to the project.to other sites.
These two solar projects have been slow to progress as the capital city of Bern heats up on pressing issues such as climate change, future electricity supply, reliance on Russian gas, and how to survive this winter. rice field.
Swiss parliament approved CHF3.2 billion in climate change measures in September to meet long-term CO2 reduction targets for other sites. Part of the budget will also be used for the current energy security threatened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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They also agreed that more ambitious targets are needed to double renewable energy production by 2035 and increase solar power generation in both lowland and high mountain regions.
Rieder and a group of senators have pushed for simpler rules to speed up the construction of large-scale solar plants in the Swiss Alps. Environmentalists were shocked by calls for an assessment of the environmental impact and for skipping the details of building a solar power plant.
In the end, the Bundestag agreed on a more moderate form in line with the Swiss Federal Constitution. An Alps solar power plant with an annual output of over 10-gigawatt hours will receive financial support from the federal government (up to 60% of the capital investment cost), and the planning process will be simplified.
But Congress also decided that the construction of such large-scale solar plants would be an emergency measure, would normally be prohibited in protected areas, and would be dismantled once they reach the end of their lifespan. . It also made it mandatory for all new buildings built in Switzerland to have solar panels if the surface area exceeds 300 square meters.
In response to this decision, Mountain Wilderness said, “We are relieved that we were able to prevent the industrialization of the Alps from being completely free-passed.” He said he was dissatisfied with the decision to exempt small buildings from the obligation to install solar panels. This is because the condition is seen as “thumbed” in the promotion of solar power outside the Alps.
The conservation group Franz Weber Foundation called the federal parliament’s decision to support large-scale solar plants in the Alps “irresponsible” and called for a referendum against the law .to other sites.
Natalie Lutz, spokeswoman for conservation group Pro Natura, said while she appreciates Congress’ withdrawal of “the most obnoxious unconstitutional clauses”, such as the removal of environmental impact studies, she believes that “solar power projects are still driven mainly at the expense of nature in alpine areas,” he told swissinfo.ch.
The industry reacted quickly to this decision, moving towards several new project proposals. After the federal parliament voted to ease the construction process for Alps solar power plants, seven major Swiss power companies have reportedly started considering it.
The German-speaking Sunday newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said on Monday that the interest group Solalpine is searching for 10 high-mountain regions as potential sites for solar power plants and will discuss them with local governments, residents, and stakeholders. reported to start other sites.
Post time: Oct-27-2022