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Unsuitable landscapes for energy production

Jan 24, 2023 / Andreas Radin, CIPRA International
The results of a recent survey from Switzerland are clear: no to energy production in almost unspoilt mountain areas. Intensively used areas around ski resorts or existing power plants would be better suited to the expansion of renewable energy.
Image caption:
Ski resorts and reservoirs – not Alpine open spaces – are best suited to the expansion of solar plants, as here at the Muttsee dam (CH). © Daniel Werder

Wind turbines, photovoltaic plants or high-voltage lines in the mountains: in December 2022, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) published the results of a representative survey on energy landscapes. Despite all the headlines about supply shortages and rising energy prices, respondents from all over Switzerland are clearly against the development of remote mountain regions, even more so than in 2018. In general, there is support for energy generation in settlement areas and – here approval has recently risen particularly strongly – in mountain regions that are already intensively used. These areas offer sufficient potential for a successful energy transition, for example installing photovoltaic plants at ski resorts or hydropower plants where the necessary infrastructure already exists. CIPRA also highlights this in its position papers on hydropower and energy landscapes.

CIPRA criticises environmental deregulation

Nevertheless, at the end of September 2022, Swiss politicians passed a so-called emergency resolution that permits the construction of large solar plants in the last remaining Alpine open spaces. All spatial planning procedures will remain suspended until another two terawatt hours of electricity production have been added. Kaspar Schuler, Executive Director of CIPRA International, criticises the decision: “This deregulation of environmental laws is to continue in a brutal manner, without regard to the protection of waters, nature or cultural heritage. Large-scale interventions in violation of the Federal Constitution and the Alpine Convention will be possible. This cannot be tolerated.” In remote mountain regions, new energy projects would often require dozens of kilometres of high-voltage lines and access roads. The projects planned there are only attractive to private investors because of the state subsidies approved. Isabella Helmschrott, Executive Director of CIPRA Switzerland, makes this appeal: “After years of political impasse, the energy transition must not occur at the expense of biodiversity! Our planetary resources are limited – such limits must also be respected in the decisions currently being negotiated in Parliament.”

The EU adopted an emergency regulation in December 2022 that largely bypasses landscape and species protection checks for energy projects. In Austria, the government is working on speeding up environmental assessments for energy projects. In January 2023, the Austrian Umweltdachverband [umbrella organisation for environment issues] warned that power plant expansion should not be accompanied by the destruction of nature.

Sources and further information:

www.wsl.ch/de/newsseiten/2022/12/schweizer-bevoelkerung-will-keine-energieanlagen-in-unberuehrten-alpenlandschaften.html (de, fr, it), www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/trotz-energieknappheit-die-schweizer-bevoelkerung-will-keine-windraeder-in-den-alpen (de), www.pv-magazine.de/2022/10/03/schweizer-parlament-beschliesst-solarpflicht-fuer-neubauten-und-erleichterungen-fuer-alpine-photovoltaik-kraftwerke/ (de), www.parlament.ch/press-releases/Pages/mm-urek-n-2022-11-2.aspx (de, fr, it), www.parlament.ch/de/ratsbetrieb/amtliches-bulletin/amtliches-bulletin-die-verhandlungen?SubjectId=58500 (de, fr, it) www.derstandard.at/story/2000142408745/turbo-fuer-mehr-saubere-energie-bei-umweltpruefungen? (de)