GENEVA (AP) — Voters in southern Switzerland on Sunday rejected a plan that would have allowed the construction of a huge solar park on a sunny Alpine mountainside as part of a federal program to develop renewable energy.
The Valais referendum focuses on economic and environmental interests at a time of heightened and growing concern about climate change. The state wrote on its official website that 53.94% of people voted against the proposal. The turnout was 35.72%.
The vote was a remarkable test of public opinion. Not-in-my-backyard opposition to the plan, which threatens to destroy the bucolic Swiss mountain landscape, has found some unusual political allies in the Alpine country.
This waiver will not completely undermine solar parks if the private sector wants to develop them. But the “no” does represent a setback for the region, which is considered one of the sunniest and most suitable areas of Switzerland for solar parks, competing with other regions such as the central Bernese Oberland or eastern Graubünden for such a project award compared to other regions such as the central Bernese Oberland or eastern Grisons. competition for federal funding. Up to 60% of funding for large solar parks is at risk.
Proponents say Switzerland benefits primarily from hydroelectricity, its main energy source in the summer, and that a high-altitude solar park above normal cloud cover would provide a stable renewable energy alternative in the winter, when the country needs to import electricity. They say federal funding will accelerate solar energy development.
Some environmental groups linked to Switzerland’s conservative populist parties oppose the plan. They said solar parks would act as a barrier to industry in the pristine Swiss mountains and argued that a better option would be to build more buildings and homes in cities – closer to where the energy is used.
”The canton of Valais already supplies most of the country’s electricity through its giant dams,” the local branch of the Swiss People’s Party said on its website. “It is unacceptable to add another environmental degradation to the first.”
It added: “Robbing our Alps for the benefit of greedy foreign operators and their equally greedy local affiliates would only be an act of evil and a work against us.”
Valais MPs and officials are calling for a yes vote on the proposal, which would require voters to agree to a decree that the regional assembly passed in February by 87 votes to 41, allowing construction of the 10 GW facility. large-scale solar park with hourly electricity generation. Annual electricity consumption.
The federal Energy Department estimates there have been between 40 and 50 large-scale solar park proposals across the country.
Overall, Swiss federal authorities have set a new solar energy target of 2 billion GWh under legislation passed in September 2022 aimed at promoting solar energy development. Some areas, such as nature reserves, are excluded from possible development.
Swiss lawmakers also approved the country’s plan to reach “net zero” emissions by 2050 amid concerns about climate change and vaunted glaciers. The plan also allocates more than 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion) to help companies and homeowners transition away from fossil fuels.
Post time: Sep-11-2023