Axpo implements alpine solar systems with partners
Axpo, IWB and Denner will jointly implement the alpine solar system on the Muttsee dam. Axpo does not consider this lighthouse project to be economically feasible. Nevertheless, the partners want to set an example, also with regard to the upcoming legislative revisions.
The large-scale solar system originally initiated by Axpo on the Muttsee dam is becoming the AlpinSolar joint project between Denner, Axpo and IWB . As everyone said in a press release of the same name, the energy suppliers Axpo and IWB will install and commission the largest alpine solar system in Switzerland in the summer. Almost 5,000 solar modules are to produce around 3.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year on the south-facing dam. Discounter Denner will take it off for 20 years.
At 2500 meters above sea level, a lot of renewable energy can be generated even in the winter months. Since the system is installed on an existing dam, it is particularly environmentally friendly. This is another reason why AlpinSolar is “a system that the energy transition needs”.
Nevertheless, “due to the lack of framework conditions, such systems are hardly economically feasible today”, regrets Axpo CEO Christoph Brand. “Nevertheless, we decided, together with strong partners, to implement this lighthouse project” and “to set an example”. "We see the project as an important contribution to the discussion for the upcoming legislative revisions."
IWB, the energy supplier for the canton of Basel-Stadt, has a 49 percent share in the project. It goes well with the company, says IWB CEO Claus Schmidt, because "the expansion of electricity production from solar energy also in Switzerland" is part of its own strategy.