Swiss Federal Supreme Court gives green light to 50-MW wind project

Swiss renewables company Energie Naturelle Mollendruz SA (ENM) can move ahead with the application for a building permit for a 50-MW wind project in western Switzerland after the Federal Supreme Court ruled in favour of the wind farm.

The court has completely dismissed all appeals against the approval of the usage plan for the Mollendruz wind park which should be built east of the Col du Mollendruz mountain pass in the Jura Mountains in the canton of Vaud, wind energy association Suisse Eole said in a statement.

With its ruling, the Federal Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Vaud from June 2020 and allows the developer to submit an application for a construction permit until the middle of 2023.

Construction work on the project is scheduled to begin at the start of 2025. The wind park with its 12 turbines is expected to be connected to the grid in 2027 and feed between 100 GWh and 112 GWh of clean power annually which would be enough to meet the electricity consumption of about 100,000 people.

Once up and running, Mollendruz will raise the wind power generation in Switzerland, which currently has 41 turbines in operation, by 80%.

The entire project will require a total investment of about CHF 90 million (USD 94.86m/EUR 91.88m).

Isabelle Chevalley, president of Suisse Eole, emphasised the importance of wind energy for the security of power supply because two-thirds of the annual wind energy output is generated during the winter. In this way, wind power complements solar and hydropower which produce less electricity in the winter months.

(CHF 1 = USD 1.054/EUR 1.021)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!