After the start of the plant at the Muttsee dam, the next alpine solar plant is already in preparation. After all, solar energy in the Alps makes an important contribution to a sustainable and secure power supply, especially in winter. "Improved framework conditions through politics, which make such investments possible in the first place, together with the higher market prices for electricity allow this offensive," explains Axpo CEO Christoph Brand.
New federal law provides the impetus
It was not until autumn 2022 that the Swiss parliament created the conditions for the rapid expansion of ground-mounted solar plants with high winter production with the "urgent federal law on the short-term provision of a secure electricity supply in winter". The entitlement to a simplified approval procedure and additional subsidies applies until the end of 2025 or up to a total annual production of two terawatt hours. With this urgent federal law, parliament is providing a welcome short-term boost for alpine plants.
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Axpo's solar offensive includes, on the one hand, alpine solar plants on infrastructure and ground-mounted plants and, on the other hand, ambitious projects on the Swiss Plateau. These include rooftop installations on industrial buildings, house roofs and ground-mounted systems. The new target means a six-fold increase in the previous ambition from 200 megawatts to more than 1.2 gigawatts by 2030. This corresponds to an annual production of around 1.5 billion kilowatt hours or the annual consumption of more than 300,000 households in Switzerland. Axpo expects to invest around CHF 1.5 billion in the expansion.
Plant at Muttsee supplies half of the electricity in winter
Axpo and IWB have built Switzerland's largest alpine solar plant to date at an altitude of 2500 metres near Lake Muttsee in the canton of Glarus. The plant has been fully operational since the end of August 2022. It produces 3.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year - half of it in winter. The Nalpsolar ground-mounted plant with ten megawatts is now to be built next to the Nalps reservoir in the canton of Graubünden. (nhp/mfo)
