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Tag: Graubünden

  • Study shows high regional value creation by energy companies

    Study shows high regional value creation by energy companies

    Repower commissioned Hanser Consulting to analyse how much added value the Graubünden-based energy supplier generates compared to energy companies outside the canton. In its study, the consulting firm puts the additional added value of the Repower Group for the canton at around CHF 144 million for the year 2024. According to its press release, Repower presented the results to the Graubünden cantonal parliament at an information event on 23 April 2026.

    Hanser Consulting summarises the main findings as follows: Firstly, due to the Repower Group’s headquarters in Graubünden, more than twice the added value per kilowatt hour of electricity produced from Graubünden hydropower remains in Graubünden compared to companies outside the canton. Secondly, this would result in “many other advantages” for the Graubünden economy, particularly with regard to the diversity of the labour market, tax revenues for the canton and municipalities and the inclusion of local suppliers for headquarters activities.

    “Against the backdrop of the Graubünden hydropower strategy and the pending home cases in the coming years, the question of how the use of hydropower is organised in the long term and where the associated added value is generated is becoming increasingly important,” writes Repower. “The study aims to provide a factual basis for discussion.” As Repower emphasises, although the company paid for the study and provided the necessary basis, it had no influence on the methodology or results.

    Repower employs around 500 people in Graubünden and operates along the entire value chain, from production to the grid and supply to trading. The largest shareholders are Elektrizitätswerke des Kantons Zürich (38.49 per cent), the canton of Graubünden (27 per cent) and UBS’s Clean Energy Infrastructure Switzerland fund (23.04 per cent).

  • 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.

  • Construction of a solar plant at 2000 metres

    Construction of a solar plant at 2000 metres

    Construction of the Madrisa Solar project by Repower, Elektrizitätswerke des Kantons Zürich(EKZ) and the municipality of Klosters has begun, according to a joint announcement by the partners. A solar plant with a production capacity of 12 megawatts is being built at an altitude of around 2000 metres above Klosters. It is expected to supply around 17 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. Over 40 per cent of this will be generated in winter. The electricity produced will be purchased by EKZ for customers in its own supply area and the Klosters-Madrisa mountain railway.

    After the population of the municipality of Klosters voted in favour of Madrisa Solar in October 2023, the first preparatory work began in autumn 2024. Predominantly regional companies were commissioned with the planning and realisation of Madrisa Solar. Around 15 per cent of the plant should be in operation by the end of 2025. Full commissioning is planned for the end of 2027.

    “After an intensive planning phase and a challenging approval process with many parties involved, we are very pleased with the start,” said Michael Roth, Head of Production & Grid at Repower and member of the Executive Board. Paul Sidler, Head of Renewable Energies at EKZ, describes Madrisa Solar as “a further commitment to a secure and sustainable electricity supply in Switzerland. This complex pioneering project also makes an important contribution to the urgently needed winter electricity.”

  • Expansion of the power supply in Graubünden

    Expansion of the power supply in Graubünden

    Graubünden-based Repower AG has announced an expansion of its distribution area. As the Poschiavo-based electricity producer, distribution system operator and energy trader announced in a press release, additional municipalities in the Misox region and the Calanca Valley will receive their electricity from Repower from 2027.

    According to the expansion plans, Buseno and Cama as well as the electricity company Media Mesolcina Energia, which supplies the municipalities of Grono, Lostallo and Soazza, will be supplied by the Repower subsidiary Moesano SA based in Grono.

    The reason for this is the high electricity tariffs in the Moesa. According to the press release, they are among the highest in Graubünden. The timing of the switch is linked to the energy supply contracts, which do not expire until the end of 2027. Repower plans to minimise costs in the aforementioned municipalities as early as 2026 by supporting the purchase of electricity to the tune of 5 centimes per kilowatt hour.

    “As Repower produces the electricity it supplies in its own power plants, the production costs form the basis for the energy tariff,” it says. It guarantees electricity consumers a “long-term stable electricity price that is not exposed to volatile markets”.

  • Start of construction for alpine solar plant in Klosters

    Start of construction for alpine solar plant in Klosters

    The Madrisa Solar alpine solar power plant can be built. According to a press release, Madrisa Solar AG, the client, has decided to go ahead with the construction. The plant will be built near the Klosters-Madrisa mountain railway at an altitude of 2,000 metres above sea level.

    The south-facing plant will have an output of 12 megawatts and is expected to generate 17 gigawatt hours per year, enough to supply 3500 households. The electricity will be purchased by EKZ, based in Dietikon ZH, and the Klosters-Madrisa mountain railway company. In addition to the cantonal energy supplier from Zurich, the Graubünden-based energy supplier Repower and the municipality of Klosters each hold a one-third stake in Madrisa Solar AG.

    “For us, Madrisa Solar is a further commitment to the energy transition,” said Paul Sidler, Head of Renewable Energies at EKZ, in the press release. “As a pioneering project, the Alpine solar plant will strengthen security of supply in winter in the future.”

    “The decisive factors for the positive decision were the ideal location, the great support of the municipality of Klosters, the partnership with EKZ and the good cooperation with the cantonal authorities and environmental protection organisations,” adds Repower CEO Roland Leuenberger.

    According to municipal president Hansueli Roth, Klosters is building on its previous commitment: “As an energy town, Klosters wants to make a contribution to the expansion of renewable energies with its participation in Madrisa Solar in addition to its existing use of hydropower (for over 100 years) and thus fulfil its shared responsibility as a tourist municipality with high winter energy consumption.”

  • Universities of Applied Sciences Graubünden and Rotterdam design cities of the future

    Universities of Applied Sciences Graubünden and Rotterdam design cities of the future

    The University of Applied Sciences Graubünden (UAS) and the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences have signed a cooperation agreement. According to a media release, the cooperation was sealed during the Sketchcity study week with students from both institutions. The launch of the new cooperation brought together 200 students from the fields of urban planning and multimedia production from Chur, Bern and Rotterdam.

    The cooperation arose from the Sketchcity project, which has been carried out by the UAS Graubünden in the Netherlands since 2016. The cooperation is intended to generate innovative ideas for the urban design of the future through interdisciplinary teaching and learning as well as research, according to a statement from the UAS. “We are connected by the Rhine, which is emblematic of this cooperation,” Professor Bruno Studer, head of the Department of Applied Future Technologies at the UAS Graubünden, is quoted as saying.

    Based on existing contacts and positive experiences with the Sketchcity project, the two universities of applied sciences have decided to intensify their cooperation, according to the statement. The basis is the Swiss method Sketch&Draw, which is used as a visual development and innovation tool. The idea behind it is to enable co-creation, co-teaching and research also with visual means.

    “We all need a visual tool to sketch the future. Sketching has always been the development tool in academic research,” Tanja Hess is quoted as saying, the initiator of the Sketch&Draw method. She is a professor of visualisation in the Multimedia Production bachelor’s degree programme at the UAS Graubünden and the Bern University of Applied Sciences.

  • Study sees opportunities for Graubünden tourism in Flexlodges

    Study sees opportunities for Graubünden tourism in Flexlodges

    Flexible forms of accommodation, so-called flexlodges, could strengthen Graubünden tourism. However, the opportunities that the niche segment offers in addition to the classic accommodation in hotels and holiday apartments have so far hardly been used. According to a press release , scientists from the Institute for Tourism and Leisure at the University of Applied Sciences in Graubünden discovered this on behalf of the Office for Economy and Tourism in Graubünden .

    The new forms of accommodation include safari tents and yurts, trailers and buses, as well as sleeping barrels, houseboats and tree houses. They are characterized by their closeness to nature. Compared to hotels and holiday apartments, they offer a better cost/income ratio due to lower investment costs. They also enable operators to react more flexibly to peaks in demand. In addition, Flexlodges appeal to a wide range of target groups. Furthermore, they often provide spectacular and thus particularly media-effective image material for communication and marketing measures.

    However, the basic study also shows that the opportunities for innovative business ideas in this area have hardly been exploited to date. Reasons include a lack of orientation for providers and complicated legislation regarding spatial planning. In addition, due to the lack of uniform terms and platforms, the offers are often difficult to find or can only be found by chance. All in all, flexlodges are still not well known.

    The scientists therefore recommend the "creation of framework conditions, the promotion of cooperation between the actors involved, the provision of information and the marketing of offers".

  • Asking rents are developing differently

    Asking rents are developing differently

    The rental index, which is collected monthly by the digital real estate marketplace Homegate in cooperation with the Zürcher Kantonalbank , closed in May at 117.6 points, Homegate informs in a press release . Compared to the previous month, advertised rents increased by an average of 0.2 percent across Switzerland. The analysts of the index have observed different developments within the individual cantons.

    Rents have remained relatively stable in most cantons. In the canton of Geneva, asking rents in May were 1 percent lower than in April. In the cantons of Zug, Graubünden, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden, on the other hand, the analysts identified significant increases of between 1.1 and 4.1 percent. However, they mainly attribute the jump of 4.1 percent in the canton of Zug to a decline in the previous month.

    In the eight cities examined in the index, the analysts identified an increase in asking rents of 0.7 percent in St.Gallen and a decrease of the same amount in Geneva and Lausanne. The two cities in western Switzerland are also the only ones where analysts have observed a drop in asking rents year-on-year.

    When recording rental price changes for the rental index, the rental prices are corrected for different quality, location and size of the apartments, explains Homegate. This makes it possible to record the actual rental price development.

    Homegate is a division of SMG Swiss Marketplace Group AG . This combines the digital marketplaces of TX Group , Ringier and Mobiliar .

  • Settlements reach pre-corona level

    Settlements reach pre-corona level

    Company settlements are increasing again after the Corona dip. The Greater Zurich Area AG (GZA), as the location marketing organization for nine cantons, was able to settle a total of 125 companies in 2021, an increase of 36 companies compared to the first Corona year 2020. According to a statement by the GZA, 42 companies came from the USA (+20 ), 19 from Germany (+4), ten from Italy (+5) and five each from China (-6), Great Britain and Singapore.

    Overall, the companies created 582 jobs in the economic area, an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous year. In the next five years there should be a total of 1843 jobs.

    The ICT sectors are most strongly represented with 42 companies, followed by the life sciences with 25 companies and the machine industry with 18 and financial services with 13 companies. The life sciences companies created 235 jobs, followed by the ICT companies with 154 jobs.

    However, the importance of the companies for the location goes beyond the number of new jobs. “We specifically address those companies that achieve high added value and strengthen the existing ecosystem,” said GZA Managing Director Sonja Wollkopf Walt at a digital media conference.

    One of the newly settled companies is Benchling . The American provider of cloud solutions for life sciences wants to create up to 150 jobs in the Circle at Zurich Airport. The Chinese pharmaceutical company Hengrui already has its European headquarters in Basel and is now setting up a research and development site in Zurich.

    The German RegTech company targens will sell its software for compliance solutions to banks in Switzerland and Liechtenstein from Schwanden GL. Ruedi Becker, the Swiss head of the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg subsidiary, was able to convince his superiors of the advantages of Glarus together with the GZA.

    That pleases the Glarner location promoter Christian Zehnder. So far, Glarus has been strong in manufacturing and food production. “We want to get away from our traditional image,” he said. “When companies settle here, however, we depend on the strong partner GZA, who markets the location internationally.”

    Sonja Wollkopf Walt sees it similarly: the settlement of targens strengthens the ecosystem as a whole and sends the signal that the economic area extends beyond Zurich and Zug. “In the Greater Zurich Area there is the ideal location for every company.”

    The Greater Zurich Area includes the cantons of Glarus, Graubünden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Ticino, Uri, Zug and Zurich.

  • Graubünden begins renovation of the Plantahof

    Graubünden begins renovation of the Plantahof

    According to a press release , the canton of Graubünden is building a new, state-of-the-art conference center on the Plantahof site. 24.5 million francs are available for the development of the area.

    The ground-breaking ceremony heralded the start of construction for a building that is intended to create the spatial and energetic conditions for the future. The Plantahof agricultural training and advice center will receive a “future-oriented, flexible infrastructure” in several construction steps. The new building is said to be an asset for the future education and training of the young generation of farmers and for advising farmer families.

    Investing in the future means environmentally conscious building in accordance with the Minergie-P-Eco standard. This energy-efficient and resource-saving construction meets all “legal requirements and regulations in terms of energy, environmental and safety technology as well as disability law”.

    The new building is urgently needed after more than 40 years of operation and considerable need for repairs, especially in the dining room, kitchen and accommodation. Gradually, first the accommodation, then the kitchen and the hall will be modernized. The architecture should “disentangle” the building areas and “structure the exterior and interior spaces of the facility precisely and with high quality”.

    Planning and implementation is carried out by a consortium consisting of the Nickisch Walder Architects based in Flims GR, the planning office Planalytik with headquarters in Flums SG and a specialist planning team.

    The canton is investing CHF 24.5 million in the construction project. The Graubünden electorate had approved the referendum on February 9, 2020. Construction can take place during ongoing operations. Completion is scheduled for spring 2025. In the canton of Graubünden, the conference center founded in 1896 plays a central role in training and further education for agriculture.

  • Graubünden promotes recyclable building materials

    Graubünden promotes recyclable building materials

    Graubünden wants to increase the demand for recycled building materials. As the Canton now tells , he has to this end, together with the Association of Grisons concrete and gravel industry developed a brochure. It is intended to show project developers and building owners the possibilities of using recycled building materials.

    Every year around 250,000 cubic meters of mineral construction waste are delivered to the 42 processing stations in the canton of Graubünden. That corresponds roughly to the volume of 1,300 single-family houses. As the canton further explains in its announcement, concrete demolition is already being recycled and used in new concrete structures.

    However, mixed demolition and road pavement are often not returned to equivalent circular applications, but are used loosely, for example in foundations or deposited in landfills. That is neither ecologically nor economically sensible. That is why the message passed by the government on the Green Deal Action Plan provides for measures to close material cycles and to increase the recycling of building materials.

    What is often missing is the demand for these recovered building materials. In terms of price, they would be on par with the primary materials. They also offer the added value of a sustainable use of resources. However, it is often overlooked that building materials are also polluted with CO2. The brochure now presented shows "for all conceivable applications in civil engineering which recycling products can be used".

  • Student creates concept for Bündner Crotti

    Student creates concept for Bündner Crotti

    Lucas Buschauer has received recognition from the Swiss Association of Engineers and Architects ( SIA) for his semester thesis. This has the technical college Grisons now informed . The graduate of architecture studies at the University of Applied Sciences in Graubünden is planning a revival as a brewery for some unused Crotti in Bondo in Graubünden.

    The SIA specialist group for the preservation of buildings awards diploma and semester theses throughout Switzerland that present outstanding concepts for the exemplary handling of existing buildings and their preservation. This year a total of eleven works were selected.

    Buschauer's semester thesis provides for the renewed use of some Crotti that were spared from the landslide in 2017. These little houses on the shady hillside were once used as natural refrigerators. He wants to convert it into a brewery and a meeting place for the village. Different uses are planned for the individual Crotti. For example, the first crotto would catch the spring water flowing by, and two more would be converted into malthouses. Four of these crotti are intended for the brewing process. He has also planned an inn and a master brewer's apartment.

    "Lucas Buschauer's semester thesis impresses with its careful research, a captivating concept idea, which was implemented carefully and in detail and is presented convincingly," said the jury's explanation. As head of the study Christian Auer emphasizes, in addition to the architectural design, “the clarification of constructive and economic issues is one of the educational objectives of our architecture course. It was precisely this know-how that was required for this task. I am very pleased that the Graubünden University of Applied Sciences is competitive throughout Switzerland with its range of courses. "

  • Cantonal banks join emonitor

    Cantonal banks join emonitor

    St.Galler Kantonalbank ( SGKB ), Graubündner Kantonalbank ( GKB ) and Luzerner Kantonalbank AG ( LUKB ) are the new majority shareholders of Proptech emonitor AG . The investment takes place through the company BES Holding AG, which was founded by the three banks.

    Proptech emonitor, based in St.Gallen, digitizes rental and sales processes for real estate. According to a joint press release by the three banks, the aim of all those involved is to establish close cooperation between emonitor AG and the real estate portal newhome.ch . In doing so, they want to gradually expand the network around real estate and living.

    Together with 14 other cantonal banks and other important players in the Swiss real estate industry, SGKB, GKB and LUKB are the owners of newhome.ch, which was founded in 2013. According to the information, they intend to win additional cantonal banks to participate in emonitor in the coming months.

    The cooperation with the cantonal banks enables emonitor to further expand the ecosystem around the issues of housing and real estate in Switzerland, says co-founder and CEO Daniel Baur: "The cantonal banks are the ideal partners for us because they have a high level of trust in the population and enjoy in the real estate market. "

    Enrico Lardelli, member of the management of GKB and new board of directors of emonitor AG, also emphasizes the importance of this strategic partnership for the living ecosystem. Accordingly, the participation of his bank has a "long-term, strategic character".

  • Vial industrial park in Domat / Ems is expanded

    Vial industrial park in Domat / Ems is expanded

    The former sawmill area in Domat / Ems has been expanded into an industrial park since 2017. Hamilton was the first company to settle there in 2017. The corner parcel in the northeast of the area is now to be sold to LJH Immo AG, the government of the canton of Graubünden informs in a message . It has already approved the draft of a corresponding sales contract for the Domat / Ems community for an area of 6,477 square meters.

    LJH Immo AG is preparing the plot for the settlement of a total of four companies. The real estate company will invest between CHF 12 million and CHF 15 million for this, according to the announcement. According to her, the companies not named are four export-oriented companies "which develop profitable, innovative high-tech products or systems".

    By settling on this parcel, the workforce of the four companies is to be increased from 85 to 140 in the medium to long term, thus creating around 55 full-time positions. "The direct and indirect added value generated by the project is of great economic importance for the canton of Graubünden," emphasizes the government in the communication.

  • Graubünden pension fund receives investment award

    Graubünden pension fund receives investment award

    The Graubünden Pension Fund ( PKGR ) has received an IAZI Real Estate Investment Award 2021. It received an award in the “Best Pension Fund Portfolio” category. IAZI awards a total of nine awards. The basis for the selection of the winners is an assessment based on eight key figures from the Swiss Property Benchmark of the consulting and service company IAZI for the Swiss real estate sector. According to a press release by the PKGR, this is the most representative benchmark for Swiss direct real estate investments.

    PKGR's real estate portfolio claims to have a market value of CHF 654 million. As stated in the announcement, the pension fund understands this award as “confirmation of its real estate strategy, its successful implementation in the facilities and management as well as the further development of the portfolio”.

  • New use for a former prison

    New use for a former prison

    An open district of Chur is being realized on the Sennhof site. With the new Sennhof, the city is getting an extension of the old town with a broad mix of uses, writes the building construction department of the canton of Graubünden in a message. In other words: after two hundred years, the Sennhof prison will once again be freely accessible to everyone. The conversion includes residential, commercial, gastro and a hostel.

    New life in old walls
    Those responsible for the project emphasize that in future people will work and live around the newly accessible inner courtyard. In the planned new building on the Sennhof site, 29 modern old town apartments will be realized. The heart of the complex remains the actual Sennhof, which, with the tower from the 13th century, is a distinctive identification feature. In addition to the tower, the arched wing and the buildings along Sennhofstrasse will be retained. The proposed project blends the existing building structure harmoniously into the old town, according to the building construction department. The angled part of the new building means that the inner courtyard is redrawn, opens up towards the vineyard and looks more spacious overall, according to the team of architects. The overall idea is supported by the diverse and well-structured mix of uses with a restaurant, commercial, residential, cultural and student space. Except for deliveries, the area should be car-free and only open to non-motorized traffic.

    Construction is expected to start in autumn 2020. The project development company Sennhof submitted the building application for the project in mid-February 2020. The company consists of Brandis Investment AG and Miro Immo AG. The Chur office Ritter Schumacher is responsible for the architecture. The project developers provide an insight into the planned project as part of the temporary use until October 2020 on the Sennhof site in Chur. If everything goes according to plan, construction work should start in the autumn of this year. ■

  • Terra Raetica is to receive the Alpine Railway Cross

    Terra Raetica is to receive the Alpine Railway Cross

    Representatives from Graubünden, South Tyrol, Tyrol and Lombardy have agreed to improve cross-border mobility in the triangle between Switzerland, Austria and Italy, especially by rail. At a meeting in Graun im Vinschgau, they signed a letter of intent to this effect, according to a press release from the Canton of Graubünden .

    Accordingly, the four regions want to coordinate their measures to create an integrated mobility system in what is known as the Terra Raetica. With an attractive alpine railway hub and the connection to the international rail network, the transalpine road traffic is to be reduced. This also reduces the environmental impact, "which in turn brings a touristic upgrade with it", it says in the message.

    "Today we are laying the foundation for intensive cooperation and a vision for the future, a rail-alpine cross between Austria, Italy and Switzerland", the Tyrolean governor Günther Platter is quoted as saying. "The mobility of the future needs a courageous approach and this must not stop at national borders." For years, the motto has been "Boundless mobility – and that is car-free", says his deputy and Tyrolean regional traffic councilor Ingrid Felipe.

    According to the Vice President of the Graubünden government, Mario Cavigelli, this agreement will create a valuable platform for exchanging information on needs and measures in public transport across borders. In the interests of the population and the economy, transport chains and transfer options between the various public transport systems in the four neighboring regions could be coordinated “as best as possible”.

    In November, a group of experts will start planning a rail link in the Terra Raetica. It is accompanied by a steering committee made up of government representatives from the four neighboring regions.

  • 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.