Construction starts on first large-scale solar park in Swiss Alps

Switzerland wants to develop large solar farms in high-mountain regions to generate lots of extra renewable power, especially in winter. The first major project under the federal government’s “Solar Express” scheme is being built near the village of Sedrun in southeast Switzerland.  

Amid concerns over the climate crisis and energy supplies, two years ago the Swiss parliament approvedExternal link legislation to simplify and speed up the construction of large solar parks in high-mountain areas. The federal law lowers the hurdles for construction – including strict environmental regulations – and offers generous subsidies (60% of project costs). But operators must be start feeding electricity into the grid from the end of 2025 in order to secure the vital state funding.

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Following the legal change, around 50 large-scale projects have been presented so far. But a third have reportedly been abandoned, often due to local opposition, delays or for financial reasons. Only four projects have received planning permission to date. Of these, work has started on one: at the mountain village of Sedrun in canton Graubünden.

In mid-August a small inauguration ceremony was held on the mountain above Sedrun that will host the farm of 5,700 solar panels.

Computer-generated image of the planned SedrunSolar park in canton Graubünden in southeastern Switzerland. Energia Alpina

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime project,” the local mayor, Martin Cavegn, told Swiss public television, SRF. “It’s a south-facing slope that is fully developed. There are already roads and an electricity grid connection. It is very easy to build here.”

The first new panels for the park will be installed from October. When completed, the 300,000m2 facility is expected to have a capacity of 19.3 megawatts – almost ten times the amount produced by the largest existing solar plant in the Swiss Alps, on the Muttsee dam. The Sedrun facility should cover the needs of 6,500 local homes.

Alpine solar installations offer the advantage of generating large amounts of electricity during the colder months when many lowland solar panels are shrouded in fog. Around half of the electricity generated by the new CHF85 million ($100 million) facility will be in winter when demand is high.

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The solar park is being built together with the local energy operator, Energia Alpina, and the renewable energy firm Aventron. It was approved by the local community in a vote.

The fact that it was a local project was “decisive” for voters’ approval, Energia Alpina president Ciril Deplazes told the Keystone-SDA news agency. “The mountain population does not want to sell everything to the lowlands,” he added.

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Another key factor behind its successful planning and launch is the fact that the solar panels will be hardly visible, even from the nearby slopes. The project had the full backing of the local environmental organisations from its conception.

“The project doesn’t just cover everything with solar panels,” said Anita Mazzetta, head of WWF Graubünden. “The location is well chosen on a terrain that is already overdeveloped – somewhere between the ski slopes and avalanche barriers. There are no major conflicts with nature or the landscape.”

Edited by Sabrina Weiss/ts