Country’s biggest wind farm keeps growing
Work has begun to expand Switzerland's biggest wind farm and quadruple the amount of power generated.
Eight wind turbines will be added to the site in the Jura region by autumn 2010, the operator Juvent said on Tuesday.
The SFr52 million ($48 million) project aims to respond to a rise in demand for green energy. Once complete, the farm will provide 32 million kilowatt hours (KwH) of green power annually, enough to cover the energy needs of around 12,000 homes.
The wind farm currently has eight turbines at an altitude of 1,200m and the new additions will be located in the districts of Saint-Imier, Courtelary, Villeret and Cormoret.
A study was carried out into the farm’s integration into the Jura landscape before the project was launched.
Approval was given last month to create an even bigger wind farm with 40 turbines in the Jura region, between Lake Neuchâtel and the Val-de-Travers. Once complete in 2013, the joint project between Romande Energie and the city of Zurich’s power utility will become the country’s largest wind farm.
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