immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: AlpinSolar

  • Alpine solar project launched over 2000 metres

    Alpine solar project launched over 2000 metres

    Axpo, based in Baden, has commissioned STRABAG to realise an alpine solar project next to the Lai da Nalps reservoir above the village of Serdun in Graubünden. Around 1,500 solar panels and a technology centre will be installed in the NalpSolar project at over 2,000 metres above sea level, the Schlieren-based construction company announced in a press release. The first 10 per cent of the plant is due to go into operation this December.

    “The construction work is technically demanding, logistically challenging and ecologically sensitive, but above all a milestone for the energy transition in Switzerland,” writes STRABAG. The individual solar tables and other components have to be transported along a narrow, single-lane mountain road. The road, which is normally closed, was built by Axpo in the 1960s as an access road for the reservoir.

    As there are no storage facilities on the construction site, only the material that is immediately needed is transported. “The logistics now run like clockwork,” explains construction foreman François Borner in the press release. “Instead of being stressful, it is now easy to plan.” In the press release, STRABAG cites the uneven ground and respect for the nature conservation zones in the construction area as further challenges in the project.

    Due to the altitude, NalpSolar will produce a lot of electricity, especially in the winter months, explains STRABAG. The construction company is aiming to complete the work in 2028. The electricity from NalpSolar is reserved for the SBB power grid for the next 20 years.

  • Axpo implements alpine solar systems with partners

    Axpo implements alpine solar systems with partners

    The large-scale solar system originally initiated by Axpo on the Muttsee dam is becoming the AlpinSolar joint project between Denner, Axpo and IWB . As everyone said in a press release of the same name, the energy suppliers Axpo and IWB will install and commission the largest alpine solar system in Switzerland in the summer. Almost 5,000 solar modules are to produce around 3.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year on the south-facing dam. Discounter Denner will take it off for 20 years.

    At 2500 meters above sea level, a lot of renewable energy can be generated even in the winter months. Since the system is installed on an existing dam, it is particularly environmentally friendly. This is another reason why AlpinSolar is “a system that the energy transition needs”.

    Nevertheless, “due to the lack of framework conditions, such systems are hardly economically feasible today”, regrets Axpo CEO Christoph Brand. “Nevertheless, we decided, together with strong partners, to implement this lighthouse project” and “to set an example”. "We see the project as an important contribution to the discussion for the upcoming legislative revisions."

    IWB, the energy supplier for the canton of Basel-Stadt, has a 49 percent share in the project. It goes well with the company, says IWB CEO Claus Schmidt, because "the expansion of electricity production from solar energy also in Switzerland" is part of its own strategy.