New projects | A new Swiss partnership
Initially, the Muttsee AlpinSolar project in Switzerland was borderline from a profitability point of view. Christian Heierli from Axpo Solutions explains why they persevered with the scheme and how such alpine systems could become very attractive in the longer term
Below: Hydropower and photovoltaics: a guiding principle of the new Swiss energy policy – supplement existing hydropower with new production, first and foremost with PV
THE HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT on Lake Limmern, which was built in the 1960s and is majority- owned by Axpo and minority-owned by the canton of Glarus, was expanded in 2014 to include Lake Muttsee. At 2474m above sea level (at full supply level), this is not only the highest reservoir in Europe with the longest dam wall in Switzerland, but also the first major new reservoir in Switzerland since the 1970s. A pumped storage plant with a total of 1000MW installed pumping and turbine capacity was built between the two lakes, the largest in Switzerland. The entire hydropower plant has further pumping and, above all, turbine capacities for several expansion stages. Even before the Muttsee Dam was completed, the idea of installing a photovoltaic system on it materialised. It was expressed, for example, in letters to the editor in the regional newspaper, so it was present
in many people’s minds. The gravity dam, which faces perfectly south-southeast to south-southwest, with a downstream slope of 51 degrees at the bottom and 90 degrees at the crest, was an invitation to do so. Due to the more intensive dam monitoring in the first five years of operation, it was agreed that a PV system from the hydropower plant point of view would be possible, but not until 2020 at the earliest.
Unprofitable yet attractive When the green light to start the project came in
2017, the return on investment had to be considered insufficient and thus the realisation questionable: the Swiss solar subsidy was geared towards self- consumption and was low for the project (not even 10% of the investment), with construction costs higher than on the Swiss Plateau.
16 | November 2022 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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