Gurtnellen switches on Switzerland’s largest battery storage facility

Switzerland’s largest battery storage facility has gone online in Gurtnellen, a municipality in the canton of Uri, SRF reports. Axpo and local power supplier Energie Uri jointly built and inaugurated the facility on Wednesday.

The system has a total capacity of 58.4 megawatts. Axpo accounts for 50 megawatts and Energie Uri for 8.4 megawatts. The facility could supply around 120,000 households with electricity for two hours.

Axpo said its part of the project had a national focus, while Energie Uri’s section was designed to meet the canton’s needs. Energie Uri will operate the entire facility, including Axpo’s section.

The facility is located in the Plattischachen area, where it is connected to the national grid operated by Swissgrid. The site also includes the Arniberg hydropower plant, one of the largest in the canton, making it an important hub for Uri’s electricity supply, according to Energie Uri.

Battery storage systems help stabilise the grid by temporarily storing surplus electricity and feeding it back when needed. This is particularly important for solar power, which can produce more electricity on sunny days than is being consumed.

Uri’s building director, Hermann Epp, said the facility would help position the canton as an energy hub. He said the canton had wind power, hydropower and solar power, with battery storage now added to the mix. The project is also expected to create jobs and economic value.

Energie Uri invested a mid-single-digit million-franc amount in its part of the facility. The investment by Axpo was not included in that figure.

Although the Gurtnellen facility is currently Switzerland’s largest, other projects are under development. Energy company BKW plans to build a substantially larger battery storage facility by 2030 at the site of the decommissioned Mühleberg nuclear power plant in the canton of Bern.

Severin Nowak, a lecturer in electrical energy systems at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, said the expansion of renewable energy under Switzerland’s Energy Strategy 2050 was driving demand for storage. Renewable systems do not produce electricity at the same time as it is consumed, he said, while falling battery storage costs have encouraged further investment.