The Swiss Federal Council has decided that areas along national roads are to be developed with green energy plants. The federal government will make these available to project developers free of charge. For this purpose, the Federal Council amended the National Roads Ordinance accordingly at its meeting on 17 August 2022.
Making better use of potential
The potential for these areas is great. Analyses have shown that as much as 55 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity can be built on suitable areas along national roads. The Federal Roads Office (Astra) already uses part of the potential for its own electricity consumption, especially near tunnels and depots. To make even better use of the potential, the remaining suitable areas, such as noise barriers or rest areas, will now be made available to third parties free of charge.
Application procedure this year
The new regulation also applies to other renewable energy facilities such as wind power or geothermal energy. It will come into force on 1 October 2022. At the end of this year, the Astra is expected to hold an application procedure. Within the framework of this procedure, project developers can reserve areas for photovoltaic plants. The focus will be on noise barriers and rest areas.
Market electricity yourself
The details of the application process have not yet been determined. But interested parties will have the opportunity to apply and, after being allocated a lot, to plan and realise the photovoltaic system on the corresponding area within a set time frame. One of the basic requirements for the use of the areas owned by Astra is that the third parties market the electricity produced themselves. (su/mfo)
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