Agreement reached on Belpmoos solar plant
Keystone-SDA
The ground-mounted solar plant at Belpmoos Airport outside Bern will be smaller than planned, the parties involved in the operation said on Tuesday.
The plant will be reduced in size by around a third and is now set to cover 16.5 hectares. Up to 28 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity will be generated annually on the area, according to a statement from the Belpmoossolar company – enough to power up to 8,000 households. The winter electricity share is 28%.
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Part of the area is expected to be included in an inventory of dry meadows of national importance this autumn as part of the Federal Council’s revision of the Dry Grasslands Ordinance, according to the company statement. At 21.8 hectares, the dry meadow part in the national inventory will cover 1.5 hectares more than it originally did in the regional inventory.
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Environmental organisations involved
The original plan was for a 25-hectare plant which would produce up to 42 GWh of electricity per year. Opposition to this came, for example, from environmental organisations and the Natur-Belpmoos association.
The resizing is the result of “intense discussions” at a round table with environmental organisations and authorities, Belpmoossolar said. The Federal Office for the Environment, canton Bern and representatives of WWF, Pro Natura, Birdlife Switzerland and the Swiss Foundation for Landscape Conservation were involved.
Belpmoossolar added that it was now examining the technical and economic impact of the redimensioned project. Development is planned for 2026. BKW Energie AG, Flughafen Bern AG and Energie Wasser Bern are also all involved.
Translated from German by DeepL/dos
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