Axpo gets permit to build 2-MW solar park in Swiss Alps

Swiss utility Axpo Holding AG has received the green light to build a 2-MW solar park on the Muttsee dam in the Glarus Alps in Switzerland.

The company announced on Wednesday its building application had been approved by the relevant authorities, including the Glarus South municipality and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE).

Construction and commissioning of what Axpo says will be the first large-scale alpine solar plant, will take place in the summer of 2021.

The solar park will sit on the dam of the Muttsee reservoir at 2,500 metres above sea level. Axpo said it would have to adjust the project design after a study by the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF) concluded that high snow loads can be expected in some areas of the plant.

In the following weeks, the company will work on specific design details, with plans to make the final decision on whether to proceed with the project over the course of the year.

Negotiations with interested off-takers for the Muttsee plant’s output are currently under way.

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