This week, a 58.4MW battery-storage plant has opened in Gurtnellen, in the canton of Uri, reported Axpo. It is the largest of its kind in Switzerland, though probably not for long.
What is it? Switzerland’s biggest battery-storage facility has been connected to the grid in Gurtnellen. The project was developed jointly by Axpo and Energie Uri and inaugurated on Wednesday. Axpo’s share has a capacity of 50MW; Energie Uri’s adds another 8.4MW. Axpo says its facility will serve the national grid, while Energie Uri’s will primarily meet cantonal needs.
Why Gurtnellen? The site at Plattischachen is already an important electricity hub. It is connected to Swissgrid’s national transmission network and is also home to the Arniberg hydroelectric plant, one of the largest in Uri. Werner Jauch of Energie Uri describes the area as the canton’s main outlet for electricity.
What does the battery do? Its main purpose is to help balance the grid. Batteries can absorb electricity when supply exceeds demand and feed it back later. This is becoming increasingly useful as solar power expands. On bright days, solar panels can produce more electricity than consumers need at that moment. Storage systems help smooth these fluctuations and reduce pressure on the grid.
What does Uri gain? The cantonal government sees the project as another step towards establishing Uri as an energy hub. Hermann Epp, Uri’s director of construction, notes that the canton already produces power from wind, water and solar energy. Battery storage adds another piece to that system. The project should also generate jobs and local economic activity. Axpo and Energie Uri will operate their respective parts of the facility.
How exceptional is it? Gurtnellen may be Switzerland’s largest battery project today, but the distinction is unlikely to last. More storage facilities are being planned as the electricity system changes. One of the biggest proposals is at the former Mühleberg nuclear-power plant in the canton of Bern, where BKW plans to build a battery facility by 2030 that would be substantially larger than Gurtnellen’s.
Why the boom? Switzerland’s Energy Strategy 2050 envisages a growing role for storage as more renewable electricity is added to the system. Severin Nowak, a lecturer in electrical-energy systems at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, told SRF that storage is becoming essential because renewable generation does not necessarily coincide with demand. Falling battery costs have made such projects more attractive, accelerating investment.
The new battery in Gurtnellen is part of a much broader Swiss experiment with energy storage. In Valais, Nant de Drance already acts as a giant hydro battery: the pumped-storage plant can store about 20GWh of electricity by moving water between two mountain reservoirs. Compared with this project, Gurtnellen’s lithium-ion batteries are smaller in energy terms but much quicker and more modular.
Ticino has tested a more novel approach. At Arbedo-Castione, near Bellinzona, Energy Vault built a gravity-storage system that uses surplus electricity to lift heavy composite blocks that release energy as they are lowered—the system was built as a test and isn’t currently operating.
Together, the three technologies are aimed at the same challenge: as Switzerland adds more intermittent solar and wind power, it needs more ways to shift electricity from moments of abundance to moments of scarcity and to keep the grid balanced.
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