Solar parks boom but so does opposition

According to Swiss media reports, there are at least 25 solar park projects under discussion since a new law was approved in September encouraging solar energy production. © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Solar energy production has increased by 25% in the last year but there is growing opposition to new projects to build solar parks in the Alps.

Solar panels installed in the country last year produced an additional gigawatt of electricity, the equivalent of that produced by the Gösgen nuclear power plant in canton Solothurn. “An annual increase of two gigawatts is soon realistic,” Thomas Nordmann, head of the Swiss Energy-Charts platform, told the SonntagsBlick.

Since the Swiss parliament approved the solar offensive bill in September to speed up the construction of solar energy parks , there’s been a race to find space in the sun. The bill reduces the hurdles for construction of big mountain solar projects – including strict environmental regulations – and offers generous subsidies.

There are at least four solar parks in the works, all of which are in canton Valais. Another will be presented on Monday. Based on researchExternal link by Le Matin Dimanche, there are 25-30 projects under discussion in the country with about a dozen of them in concrete stages.

Parliament wants the Alpine solar parks to contribute 2,000 gigawatt hours (gWh) per year by the end of 2025. The total annual Swiss electricity consumption is some 58,000 gWh. Hydro-electric plants are the motor of electricity production in the country, contributing about 60%; solar made up 6% of production in 2021.

Some projects are arousing opposition though. Le Matin Dimanche reported that Vera Weber, president of the Franz Weber foundation, is opposed to solar park projects in the Alps, arguing they go against land use planning and environmental protection. “It’s completely absurd to want to destroy nature to supposedly save it when there are so many other solutions,” she told the paper.

She believes that the authorities underestimate the opposition to solar parks among environmental groups. According to Weber, some 600 people are already opposed to a new solar installation that is set to be built 2,500 metres above sea level in canton Valais.