Legal action filed against pioneering Swiss large-scale Alpine solar plant
The approximately eight-hectare plant is planned on the southern slope of Bürglen in the municipality of Oberwil im Simmental.
Keystone / Jean-Christophe Bott
The foundation for landscape conservation (SL-FP), the Swiss Alpine Club, and the association Mountain Wilderness, have submitted an appeal with the administrative court in Bern against the large-scale solar plant which has been authorised to be built in Oberwil. The organisations want to have the decision reviewed by the courts, as they announced on Monday.
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Keystone-SDA
Numerous unresolved legal issues and the major way in which the project would set a precedent prompted the appeal by the three organisations. The installation on the area called Alp Morgeten is the first project in Switzerland to be approved as part of the federal government’s “Solar Express” programme.
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Voters in southern Switzerland are deciding this Sunday whether to accelerate the construction of large solar farms in the mountains.
According to the press release, the issue of power transmission through a moorland landscape in particular is to be reviewed in court. The three associations also criticised the “inadequate coordination” between the building permit, the environmental report, and the power supply, among other things. Due to the minimal electricity production, it is uncertain whether the requirements for the simplified authorisation procedure in accordance with “Solarexpress” are met.
The approximately eight-hectare plant is planned on the southern slope of Bürglen in the municipality of Oberwil im Simmental in central Switzerland. It is expected to have an annual production of 12 gigawatt hours and should produce electricity for around 3,000 households.
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