Floating solar park located in Valais awarded a Watt d’Or. The Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) has been awarded Watt d’Or Swiss energy prizes for the 14th time.
Romande Energie and the partner ABB were notably honoured for their floating solar park on Lac des Toules in Bourg-Saint-Pierre (VS).
In addition to the energy from hydraulic power, the lake, located at 1800m. altitude now provides electricity of solar origin. “The success of a unique park in the world is such that additional energy supply companies in Switzerland and abroad are already interested,” said the SFOE on Thursday.
Romande Energie considers this project’s initial results “very encouraging” for getting rewarded in the Renewable Energies category. The group is based in Morges (VD) plans to expand their plant in 2022 for producing 22 million kilowatt-hours, which is equivalent to the average consumption of 6,100 households.
Hydrogen trucks
Among the winners of the Watt d’Or 2021, Adaptricity which is an EPFZ spin-off had been awarded in the Energy technologies category. It was awarded for its software solutions offering “intelligent answers for the planning and transparent monitoring of electrical networks.”
A network of companies including Hydrospider, Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility, H2 Energy – and the Mobilité H2 association have received the Mobility category award. They have developed “the first commercial cycle of renewable hydrogen in the world” for heavy vehicle traffic. Their model has hydrogen trucks, hydrogen service stations as well as the production of renewable hydrogen.
Two prizes were awarded in the Buildings and Space category. The Saint-Welsh company Mettiss was awarded for the renovation of an office building from the 1960s “turning an energy gap into a passive house thanks to intelligent planning”, welcomes the SFOE.
A jury awarded the snowball-shaped Watt d’Or trophies by Pascale Bruderer, the former adviser to the Aargau states. It has been chaired for the last time by Pascale Bruderer. Sixty-four applications were submitted at the end of July, and 24 were selected for the final phase. Purely honorary, the Watt d’Or is not endowed.