Solar Power Axpo solar initiative
Switzerland is facing a major challenge. By 2050 our electricity supply will face an annual shortfall of around 50 terawatt hours. That’s a lot of electricity. To bring about the energy transition and ensure our security of supply, we urgently need to develop more renewable sources of energy. Solar power can make an important contribution. Axpo’s solar initiative aims to develop around 700 projects a year on Switzerland’s mountains and its Mittelland (Central Plateau). In total, solar capacity of around 1.2 GW will be created, enough to meet the annual electricity requirements of more than 300,000 Swiss households.
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Our projects in the mountains
The energy transition depends on the expansion of renewable energies everywhere. Large-scale solar plants will play an increasingly important role in this process, both on the mountains and, in future, Switzerland’s Central Plateau.
In the mountains, solar plants supply a particularly large amount of winter electricity because:
- They are often located above areas prone to fog (which impairs efficiency).
- Snow reflects solar radiation, increasing the energy created by bifacial/some solar panels.
- Lower temperatures increase the efficiency of solar panels.
We aim to produce winter electricity from the following projects by the end of 2025:
Political framework conditions
In its autumn 2022 session, Switzerland’s parliament passed legislation that created the conditions for a rapid expansion of ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV) systems, capable of producing large amounts of solar electricity during the winter months.
These urgent measures – the so-called ‘Solar Express’ laws – established a simplified planning and approval process and provided for additional federal government subsidies. They will apply until the end of 2025 or when capacity for generating a total annual production of two terawatt hours has been added. Axpo greeted the measures as a welcome short-term boost for alpine solar plants.
However, the importance of sustainable framework conditions for the expansion of renewable electricity production beyond 2025 remains. For example, a follow-up solution is needed for ground-mounted PV systems.
Authorisation procedures remain a major challenge. The process must be further simplified and accelerated so that enough renewable energy can be generated. Axpo is committed to a constructive dialogue with politicians to create the appropriate conditions.
Experience with large-scale solar plants in Switzerland and Europe
Axpo has more than 15 years of experience in the construction of large-scale solar plants, including one of the largest car park PV canopies in Europe, at Disneyland Paris. Our know-how extends across a wide range of other solar technologies and applications, including ground-mounted systems, agri-voltaic, floating PV, rooftop and alpine systems.
Working with IWB, the city of Basel's energy utility, we have developed AlpinSolar, the largest alpine solar plant in Switzerland to date. Located on the Muttsee dam in the Galrus Alps, 2,500 metres above sea level, the Axpo plant has been fully operational since late August 2022. Denner, Switzerland's largest discount supermarket chain, buys the plant’s entire output of green electricity for its shops under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
AlpinSolar also generates invaluable data on snow and wind loads and its production performance. This information is currently being analysed by the prestigious SLF research institute in Davos and a PhD candidate at the EPFL university in Lausanne. Their findings will help Axpo develop future projects in the mountains.
Our projects on the Central Plateau
Axpo installs 700 rooftop PV systems a year in Switzerland through our subsidiary CKW. That’s an average of two per day. These range from solar panels on houses to large systems on industrial buildings.
In addition to rooftop systems, Axpo also has plans to develop large ground-mounted systems in Switzerland’s Mittelland or Central Plateau. This follows the installation of several smaller ground-mounted systems at electricity substations in the region.
Do you own large areas of land?
If you own large areas of land and would like to make them available for the energy transition in Switzerland, please get in touch with us