immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: ErneuerbareEnergien

  • Tenant platform shows data on electricity consumption

    Tenant platform shows data on electricity consumption

    The Basel company Allthings offers a digital platform for tenants, via which they can communicate with property management and roommates, for example. Allthings is now teaming up with the Bern-based company Blockstrom , according to a press release . A solution from Blockstrom for measuring energy consumption in real time will be integrated into the Allthings platform. This means that tenants can also use the platform to track their electricity consumption.

    "The interface between the two systems enables an overview of the consumption data in real time," explains David Gundlach, Product Manager at Allthings. “The cooperation with Blockstrom not only creates added value for the tenants, but also allows us to make a contribution to the very relevant topic of sustainability,” he adds.

    The joint solution of the two companies is initially being tested as part of a pilot project on the Schöngrün residential area in the canton of Solothurn. There, AXA has converted a former penal institution into a housing estate. The new building with 160 apartments places a high value on sustainability. District heating from the waste incineration plant is used for heating. A solar system on the roof also provides 200,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. The apartments and shops on the site are supplied with solar power as part of an association for self-consumption (ZEV).

  • The first multi-energy systems from Soleco are in use

    The first multi-energy systems from Soleco are in use

    A ready-to-use multi-energy management system has evolved from an award-winning product idea from Soleco . It has already been put into operation in two single-family houses in Maur in the canton of Zurich. It will soon also be used in an apartment building there. According to a message from startupticker.ch, talks are currently underway about equipping a district under construction in Zurich.

    In the year it was founded, Soleco, together with its partners Geminise and Vela Solaris , won the CSEM Digital Journey Award in the amount of 100,000 francs in 2018. The private and non-profit Swiss Electronics and Microtechnology Research Center ( CSEM ) claims to promote "added value for a sustainable world". CSEM provided Soleco with technological expertise in order to realize their "groundbreaking digital idea".

    Together they developed an intelligent and predictive control system. The software intended for laypeople is based on weather forecasts, the available infrastructure, consumption habits of the residents and energy costs on the market. "The platform then functions like a conductor who manages the resources autonomously and reduces costs," the message says.

    "All decisions that the control system makes are associated with an optimal cost," explains Tomasz Gorecki, one of the CSEM engineers. "If, for example, the photovoltaic system is in operation, the controller can determine whether it is better to charge your electric vehicle, store the energy or sell it to the grid." The platform works for individual households, but is above all suitable for self-consumption communities that jointly use different renewable energy sources for several apartments.

  • Energie Zukunft Schweiz launches climate bonus for wood heating

    Energie Zukunft Schweiz launches climate bonus for wood heating

    Energie Zukunft Schweiz and Holzfeuerungen Schweiz ( SFIH ) are promoting wood heating systems with a new climate bonus. This is intended to reward those who replace the fossil fuels oil or gas with local wood. Because, according to a press release , previous funding programs are aimed primarily at small residential buildings and not at industrial and commercial buildings, this premium is aimed at medium-sized and large heating systems.

    “Thanks to the generous climate bonus from the funding program and the simple handling of Energy Future Switzerland, this gap has now been closed. And that is the same for the whole of Switzerland, ”says the announcement. This would mean that medium-sized and large wood heating systems would be “not only the most climate-friendly, but also the most economical variant”. Heating with wood protects the climate, promotes local added value and contributes to a healthy forest. This program is regulated by the Federal Office for the Environment ( FOEN ).

    The subsidy amounts to 18 cents per kilowatt hour or 1.80 francs per liter of oil or cubic meter of natural gas saved. Energie Zukunft Schweiz calculates that “with correctly dimensioned heating” this corresponds to 360 francs per kilowatt of power. For example, for a block of flats with ten apartments, the investment costs could be reduced by 70 percent. According to Energie Zukunft Schweiz, the savings for large heating systems with an output of more than 200 kilowatts, for example for community buildings, industrial companies and large office buildings, are particularly interesting.

  • Basel zero energy house exceeds planning values

    Basel zero energy house exceeds planning values

    The first apartment building in the canton of Basel to be certified according to the highest Swiss Minergie-A-Eco standard was moved into in 2015. As an investor, Immobilien Basel-Stadt commissioned the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland ( FHNW ) to carry out a study three years ago. This long-term monitoring should clarify whether the demanding energy goals are being achieved and how the house is being accepted by the residents.

    The new building at Basel Aescherstrasse 12 includes seven age-appropriate apartments with two and a half and three and a half rooms. According to a media release from Immobilien Basel-Stadt, the team of experts from the FHNW Institute for Energy in Buildings compared the calculated demand values from the planning with the actual consumption values in operation. The survey of the residents showed that the room temperature in most apartments is higher than the standard value from the planning.

    Since the house should generate at least as much energy for the Minergie-A certification as is used all year round for heating, cooling and ventilation, it was then examined how the increased room temperatures affect heating energy consumption. The measurement results showed that, on the one hand, the heat pump was “much more efficient than assumed”. "On the other hand, the yield from the photovoltaic system on the roof was significantly higher than planned."

    The energy production in the house today also exceeds the total electricity demand on an annual basis. There is potential for optimization through a partial waiver of building automation. This could improve the solar input in winter and night cooling in summer.

    "The building concept has proven itself in operation", summarizes Immobilien Basel-Stadt. "The ambitious goals of sustainable building could also be achieved in practice without having to accept compromises in terms of comfort."

  • Primeo Energie is planning two wind turbines in Muttenz

    Primeo Energie is planning two wind turbines in Muttenz

    Primeo Energie intends to build two wind turbines by 2023 in one of the six wind farm areas that the district administrator identified in the Basel structure plan in 2015. The location is in the Muttenzer Hard between the A2 motorway and the tracks of the Swiss Federal Railways ( SBB ). According to a press release , the electricity provider will be working with the municipality of Muttenz and the canton of Basel-Landschaft .

    With an annual output of 4.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity, the new wind turbine could supply an average of 1200 households with ecological energy. Primeo Energie is thus following the guidelines of the federal government's energy strategy and that of the canton of Basel-Landschaft.

    "All necessary preliminary investigations" have already been carried out for the construction. "The location of the two turbines is ideal," says the message. The area is not in a landscape protection area. In addition, consumers in industrial and residential areas are close. Therefore, a network connection can be implemented with little effort.

    In the trinational region of Basel there are not yet any wind farms except in the Black Forest. Primeo Energie cites the good ecological balance of wind turbines as a further plus point. In addition, they only had a minor impact on flora and fauna.

  • The first high-alpine solar plant will be in production from September

    The first high-alpine solar plant will be in production from September

    From September the first high-alpine solar project in Bergell will deliver natural electricity. As the operator Elektrizitätswerke der Stadt Zürich ( ewz ) announced in a press release , most of the more than 1200 photovoltaic (PV) panels have now been installed on the Albigna dam.

    For the assembly work, a so-called bridge inspection device was transported to the dam wall with the Albigna cable car. Most of the construction work was carried out by ewz employees from Bergell.

    Citizens from Zurich and Graubünden have the opportunity to purchase half, one, three or five square meters of the PV area and thus make a contribution to environmental and climate protection. The public participation model ewz.solarzüri provides that ewz customers are credited 180 kilowatt hours of solar power per square meter per year on their electricity bill. The term is 20 years. The one-off costs per square meter are CHF 560.

    From August 14, interested parties can find out more and order panel space on the websites ewz.ch/solargrischun and ewz.ch/solar-für-alle . Until then, these links lead to the current page of ewz.solarzüri.

  • Solar power could solve Swiss energy problems

    Solar power could solve Swiss energy problems

    Only photovoltaics can show Switzerland the way to a CO2-free future, writes the Deputy Director of the Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute ( Empa ), Peter Richner, in an article for Avenir Suisse . It is based on the so-called Kaya identity, which the Japanese scientist Yoichi Kaya used in 1993 to describe the total amount of anthropogenic CO2 emissions as a function of four factors. The fourth alone, a reduction in the CO2 footprint, has enough potential, according to Richner, to achieve Switzerland's climate goals – through massive expansion of photovoltaics.

    If only 50 percent of all Swiss roofs were equipped with solar modules, electricity production from nuclear power plants would be superfluous. Richner demonstrates this in terms of electricity supply and demand for 2015. However, if all roofs and increasingly also building facades were equipped with solar panels, the output gap in winter could also be compensated for. At the same time, however, solutions would have to be found in order to be able to utilize the largest possible proportion of the electricity surplus in summer, both on a daily basis and at other times of the year.

    For increased flexibility of use, day storage systems could shift loads, for example through batteries or hydrogen. Digitization offers opportunities for the necessary creation of flexibility in consumption and production. Excess electricity could be converted into hydrogen in summer and possibly, together with CO2 from the air, into methane or liquid synthetic hydrocarbons. These chemical energy carriers can be stored easily and used in a variety of ways. And finally, seasonal heat storage systems could be charged with excess electricity in order to reduce energy requirements in winter.

    The potential of energy efficiency, another influenceable factor of the Kaya identity, is far from being exhausted, says Richner. However, achievements in this area would be compensated for by higher electricity demand, fossil electricity imports from abroad in winter or increased electricity consumption.

    In order to achieve a climate-neutral Switzerland, one of the four factors in the Kaya identity must be zero or the remaining product is offset with CO2-negative technologies such as the separation of CO2 from the air and its storage. Politicians must provide a decisive framework for this, as long as the nuclear power plants are still running.

  • Axpo President calls for a sliding market premium

    Axpo President calls for a sliding market premium

    In a joint guest commentary for the “Tages-Anzeiger”, two leading representatives of the Swiss energy industry take a hard line against the Federal Council's plans to implement the Energy Strategy 2050. “Switzerland has the wrong instruments for promoting renewable energies. We have a suggestion on how this can be changed, ”write Thomas Sieber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the energy company Axpo , and Gianni Operto, President of AEE Suisse , the umbrella organization for renewable energies and energy efficiency.

    The proposal can be summarized in two words: Moving market premium. The Federal Council proposes a model with investment contributions for the energy law revision. The amounts are fixed in advance. From the authors' point of view, the problem is that it will hardly be possible to determine the most economically efficient contribution amount. Either there is unnecessary over-funding or too little funds are budgeted, which leads to the shutdown of plants that are no longer profitable. The sliding market premium, for which a “broad alliance of the Swiss energy industry” advocates, is already being used successfully in other countries. Production capacities would be put out to tender in a competition. "Those interested with the lowest offers are guaranteed a minimum remuneration for the electricity produced over a certain period of time – but only if the market price does not cover this." The sliding market premium supports precisely and only as much as necessary. It is therefore not a subsidy, but a fair price tag for a central service.

    Since the expansion of renewable capacities in Switzerland is currently not profitable for electricity suppliers, Swiss energy suppliers and institutional investors invested abroad. At the end of 2019, the expansion of renewable capacities financed in this way had increased to 11.5 terawatt hours, almost a fifth of the total annual production in Switzerland.

  • Canton Police of St.Gallen runs on hydrogen

    Canton Police of St.Gallen runs on hydrogen

    "Ecological and sustainable action by the organizations has long since ceased to be desirable, but is expected," said the St.Gallen cantonal police in introducing a report on the authority's latest achievement. Specifically, the canton police now want to meet their responsibility for the environment by using a hydrogen car. So far, a total of 20 electric vehicles have been used by the St.Gallen canton police.

    The new Hyundai Nexo, like electric cars, does not emit any harmful emissions, the press release said. Fast refueling and a range of 600 kilometers per tank are named as further advantages of the hydrogen car.

    However, there are currently hardly any hydrogen filling stations in the region, explains the canton police. She identified Osterwalder St.Gallen AG as currently the only operator of a hydrogen filling station in Eastern Switzerland. The newly acquired Hyundai Nexo is therefore to be assigned to the traffic instruction stationed in St.Gallen.

  • Axpo places green bond via Loanboox

    Axpo places green bond via Loanboox

    Axpo has placed a so-called green bond via the digital capital market platform of the Zurich fintech Loanboox , according to a media release . The fixed-interest bond of CHF 133 million has a term of seven years.

    Axpo intends to use the net proceeds from the bond to invest in renewable energies. The company highlights wind energy and photovoltaic projects. Overall, Axpo wants to use the Green Bond to “strengthen its position as the largest Swiss producer of renewable energies” and expand its group of investors, it is said.

    According to Loanboox, Axpo is the first issuer to place a green bond entirely digitally via the debt capital market platform. "This first bond is proof that our digital process creates added value for all market participants," says Philippe Cayrol, CEO of Loanboox. "We are proud and happy to work with innovative customers and partners to create new standards in terms of transparency, pricing and allocation in the primary market – in Switzerland and Europe," he adds.

  • Hans Eberle AG produces its own green electricity

    Hans Eberle AG produces its own green electricity

    Around 10 percent of the electricity consumption of the metal goods factory Hans Eberle AG has come from in-house production since this summer. According to the company's media release, the heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting of the new company building, which was also completed this summer, are powered by clean energy from the newly installed hydropower screw in Ortsbach. The Francis turbine that was used earlier "got out" in 2014 after more than 100 years of operation, as the company reports. With this investment, Hans Eberle AG wants to underline its commitment to the sustainable use of resources and make a contribution to climate protection.

    Hans Eberle AG, together with other members of the cooperative, uses the Ennendaner Ortsbach to produce its own electricity. The water is led from the Linth into the Ortsbach and has a constant flow of three cubic meters of water per second, which is quite sufficient for electricity production. The use of water power from the Ortsbach has a long tradition in Ennenda; it used to be used in the textile industry for weaving fabrics.

  • Canton Schaffhausen wants to use the Rhine power station itself from 2030

    Canton Schaffhausen wants to use the Rhine power station itself from 2030

    The canton of Schaffhausen wants to take over the Rhine power station near Neuhausen itself in ten years. The concession for the power plant, which was built in 1948 and commissioned in 1950, expires at the end of 2030. Rheinkraftwerk Neuhausen AG (RKN) has applied for the extension of the water rights concession granted 80 years ago by the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zurich. However, the Schaffhausen government council, in coordination with the canton of Zurich, does not want to extend this, but rather declare the so-called reversal for the plant at the Rhine Falls and take over the plant itself. According to the canton's media release , this must be communicated to the previous operator ten years in advance, specifically by December 27, 2020.

    District President and Energy Director Martin Kessler explains the procedure: “At the end of the concession, the canton will have the unique opportunity to take over the power plant. The economic and energy-political potential of the power plant is very interesting for the canton of Schaffhausen and offers considerable opportunities. Incidentally, the continuation of the hydropower plant corresponds to the energy strategy of the federal government and the canton and also makes sense from a climate policy perspective. "

    This means that the added value resulting from the power plant remains in the canton. The RKN currently uses 29.9 cubic meters per second and produces around 45 gigawatt hours of energy per year. The energy production costs are extremely cheap at 2.9 cents.

  • Meyer Burger wants to manufacture solar modules in Glarus

    Meyer Burger wants to manufacture solar modules in Glarus

    The Thun-based system manufacturer Meyer Burger wants to set up a production facility for solar panels in Linthal GL. The planned plant will have a capacity of 400 megawatts and employ over 100 people in three-shift operation, according to a statement from the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies ( VSE ).

    The project is related to the planned realignment of Meyer Burger. The company based in Gwatt BE no longer wants to build and sell machines for the production of panels in the future, but instead wants to get into panel production itself.

    The main argument in favor of locating the plant in Linthal is a solar park project on the Limmernsee in Glarus Süd, 1860 meters above sea level. A floating photovoltaic system with a capacity of 250 megawatts per year is to be installed there. The Limmern Solar Park (SPL) on the storage lake of Kraftwerke Linth-Limmern AG ( KLL , Axpo ) could generate 300 gigawatt hours of electricity and thus cover the needs of 75,000 to 100,000 four-person households.

    There are other advantages that speak in favor of Glarus. In this way, not only is the inexpensive energy supply guaranteed by the Technischen Betriebe Glarus Süd ( tbgs ), but also the building land is available. In addition, the canton of Glarus is ready to set tax incentives. The plant also benefits from the efficient approval process, the rail connection for goods transport and the interesting Swiss market.