Gotthard wind farm is officially inaugurated
The Gotthard wind farm was symbolically put into operation after 18 years of planning and construction. The only Swiss wind farm currently under construction will start producing electricity in November.
The Parco eolico del San Gottardo has been officially inaugurated on the Gotthard Pass. It is currently the only wind farm under construction in Switzerland. It will start its regular operation in November. According to a press release by the operator Azienda Elettrica Ticinese ( AET ), “numerous restoration and soil remediation measures” are planned for the coming summer months.
State Councilor Claudio Zali, Director of the Territorial Department, Airolo's Mayor Franco Pedrini, the General Director of Services Industriels de Genève ( SIG ), Christian Brunier, and the Director of AET, Roberto Pronini, symbolically put the plant into operation. There were also representatives from companies and institutions involved in the project.
The summer months of the past two years were used for the construction phase. Commissioning was planned as early as autumn 2009. However, according to an article in the “Luzerner Zeitung”, those responsible at the time “admitted that they underestimated the effort involved in the project”. As a justification, the then Chairman of the Board of Directors cited Switzerland's lack of experience with wind farms.
There are now five instead of the originally planned seven wind turbines on the Gotthard Pass. They were supplied by the German company Enercon . The annual production of these generators of 2.35 megawatts each is estimated at between 16 and 20 gigawatt hours, according to the announcement. They can cover the electricity demand in the Leventina valley between the south portals of the Gotthard tunnel near Airolo to Biasca.
The investment of 32 million francs was supported by the shareholders of the Gotthard wind farm: AET holds 70 percent, SIG 25 percent and the municipality of Airolo 5 percent. The system receives subsidies from the fund for the cost ceiling feed-in remuneration ( KEV ) for renewable energies for 20 years. This is a federal instrument to promote renewable energies. It is financed by a consumer levy on the electricity price.