Head of Marketing, Repower Italia
Broad support for solar power generation projects
October
An integral part of Repower’s strategy is expanding its renewable electricity production. As part of the Solarexpress programme, Repower successfully brings two of its own projects for alpine solar installations to the vote.
Repower initially examined around 40 sites for alpine solar installations in the canton of Graubünden. It firms up two of these projects: One is to be built at the Vorab mountain station in the municipality of Laax, the other at the Madrisa mountain station in the municipality of Klosters. The voters of the two local communities have clearly approved the projects in a referendum.
The project at Madrisa will have an installed capacity of 12 MW and the substructure for the solar modules is expected to consist of solar tables. The project at Vorab will be somewhat smaller, with a peak performance of 8.5 MW and a cable system planned as the substructure.
Overall project manager Fabio Maurizio: “The sites on the Vorab and near Madrisa are ideally suited for the construction of alpine solar power installations. The solar radiation is above average and the installations will barely be visible or not visible at all from the valley. There is also a mountain railway infrastructure at both locations and ski slopes run past them, so unspoilt landscapes are not affected.”
As the owner of the ski lifts and co-owner of the planned installation, Weisse Arena Bergbahnen AG, will be an important consumer of the locally produced solar energy. The Vorab solar installation brings the operator one step closer to its vision of making Flims Laax Falera the first self-sufficient Alpine destination to cover 100 per cent of its energy needs from climate-friendly, regional resources.
Sustainable and locally generated electricity is also an important issue for Bergbahnen Madrisa. The consumption and production profiles of the mountain railway and the solar installation are ideally matched, meaning that the Madrisa mountain railway can be operated almost entirely with solar power.
Fabio Maurizio
Photovoltaic Generation Asset Management