Alpine solar farms set for public vote in canton Valais

Solar panels on avalanche protection barriers at Bellwald in canton Valais. Campaigners in canton Valais are against the idea of building large solar farms in the Alps. © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Voters in canton Valais in southern Switzerland are likely to have the final say on the construction of large solar parks in high-mountain regions.

Campaigners from the Valais Green Party, the Pro Natura conservation group and seven other organisations handed in 6,000 signatures – double the figure needed – to the State Chancellery on Wednesday to force a referendum vote.

The activists oppose a Valais decree approved in February by the Valais parliament that facilitates and accelerates the authorisation procedure to build large solar farms in the mountains.

Switzerland currently gets 6% of its electricity from the sun. Research shows that putting solar panels on mountaintops in the Swiss Alps could generate at least 16 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity a year, or almost half of the solar power the authorities aim to produce annually by 2050. Large mountain solar projects exist in some regions in China, and small solar parks can be found in the mountains in France and Austria. Big installations are currently rare in the Swiss Alps.

Yet the climate crisis and urgency surrounding winter energy shortages are causing a fundamental rethink. Last autumn parliamentarians led a solar offensive to simplify and speed up the construction of Alpine solar systems.

+ Read how tensions surround mountaintop solar farms

Around a dozen project proposals have emerged, mainly in cantons Valais and Graubünden, to take advantage of recent developments.

Experts say Alpine solar parks offer certain advantages, mainly that most of the power would be produced in winter when supplies are critical. In the Alps you have a lot of sunshine, especially in winter, and you can produce solar energy above the clouds, they argue.

+ Electricity firms on the hunt for Alpine solar opportunities

But there are still many unknowns regarding Alpine solar farms, especially the costs, economic benefits and suitable locations.

Some environmentalists say the acceleration of solar projects in the Alps is taking place at the expense of nature. The campaigners behind the collection of signatures fear that hundreds of hectares of mountain pastures could be given up in favour of huge solar parks. They argue that preference should be given to installing solar panels on existing structures in the mountains that are largely under-exploited, such as dam walls, avalanche barriers, accumulation lakes, ski lifts or road infrastructure.

On Monday it was announced that plans to build a huge solar farm in the Binntal Nature Park in Grengiols, southwest Switzerland, had been drastically streamlined following resistance from environmentalists.