Swiss area rejects solar parks on its Alpine mountainsides
GENEVA — Voters in a southern Swiss region have rejected a plan to allow large solar parks on their sun-baked Alpine mountainsides as part of the federal government’s push to develop renewable energy sources.
The referendum in the Valais canton centered on economic and environmental interests at a time of rising concerns about climate change. The canton website said 53.94% voted against the proposal.
The Sunday vote was a noteworthy test of public opinion. “Not-in-my-backyard”-style opposition to the plan over a presumed blight on bucolic Swiss mountain vistas had made for some unusual political allies in the Alpine country.
The rejection doesn’t torpedo solar parks entirely if the private sector wants to develop them. But the “no” did set back the region, seen as one of the sunniest and most apt for solar parks in Switzerland, against others like central Bern Oberland or eastern Graubünden vying for generous federal funding for such projects. At stake is up to 60% of financing for big solar parks.
Proponents had said Switzerland benefits from hydropower — its main source of energy — mostly in the summer, and high solar parks situated above the typical cloud cover would provide a steady, renewable-energy alternative in the winter, when the country needs to import electricity. They said federal funding would have sped up development of solar power.
Opposition to the plan had seen some environmental groups align with Switzerland’s conservative populist party. They had said solar parks would be an industrial eyesore on pristine Swiss mountains and argued that outfitting more buildings and homes in towns and cities — closer to where the energy would be used — is preferable.
“Through its giant dams, Valais has already given a large share of its electricity to the country,” the local chapter of the Swiss People’s Party said on its website. “Adding another environmental degradation to this first one is unacceptable.”
“Ransacking our Alps for the benefit of greedy foreign operators and their no-lessgreedy local affiliates can only be an evil enterprise and be to our detriment,” it added.
Valais lawmakers and officials had been urging a “yes” vote on the proposal, which asked voters to agree to a decree — which the regional council passed 87-41 in February — authorizing construction of big solar parks that can produce 10 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year.
The federal Energy Department estimates that about 40 to 50 proposals for large solar parks have been made across the country.
Overall, Swiss federal authorities have set a target of 2 billion gigawatt-hours in new solar energy under legislation promoting development of solar energy, adopted in September 2022. Some areas, like nature reserves, are excluded from possible development.
Swiss lawmakers have already approved a plan that requires Switzerland to achieve “net-zero” emissions by 2050. It also set aside about $3.4 billion to help wean companies and homeowners off fossil fuels.