Swiss solar plant scales back ambitious targets

The proposed Grengiols solar plant site in a nature park in the Swiss Alps. SRF

Plans to build a giant solar plant in the Swiss Alps have been drastically streamlined following resistance from environmentalists.

The local authorities had backed a proposal to build a solar farm covering the equivalent of 700 football pitches in the Binntal Nature Park in Grengiols, southwest Switzerland.

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The original plan envisaged a facility that would produce at least 600 gigawatts of electricity a year. This has now been scaled back to a more modest 160,000 solar modules on a square kilometre of land, providing around 110 gigawatts of electricity, reports the Keystone-SDA news agency.

This would still be enough to power 37,000 homes, say the project’s backers.

Grengiols-Solar is one of six photovoltaic plants proposed for canton Valais as part of a drive to increase the proportion of alternative energy sources in Switzerland.

But the continued existence of the downsized project, to be situated at an altitude of 2,000 metres above sea level, now lies in the hands of local voters.

The six project partners include the Grengiols authorities and various energy companies in cantons Valais, Basel and Zurich.