PV installations now generate 400,000 kWh
We let the sun shine in ... the electrical grid – for the Kitzsteinhorn commits itself to generating green energy by further expanding PV installations. Within just one year, the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun AG has increased its power from solar energy from 40,000 to 400,000 kWh, positively impacting the company’s ecological balance.
Electricity from renewable energy sources has been commonplace for many years on the Kitzsteinhorn. Part of the 100% green energy is self-produced. In the summer of 2022, authorized officer Günther Brennsteiner and in-house electrician Ernst Streitberger showed us the solar panels that were installed on the flat roof of the Kaprun Center when it was built in 2018. The façades of the 3K K-onnection and Gletscherjet 3+4 cable car stations already featured solar panels last year, too. Over the summer of 2023, numerous other PV cells followed, as Günther Brennsteiner proudly reports: “The roof of our depot, other surfaces of the Kaprun Center, the Alpincenter, the old Schaufelberg top station and the Maisi Alm now convert sunlight into electricity.”
Within one year, we have increased our power from solar energy from 40,000 to 400,000 kWh.
Expectations exceeded
Günther Brennsteiner is thrilled about the new solar panels: “We have more than fulfilled the objective we established last year. We’ve been extremely satisfied with how effective the newly installed solar systems operate. The panels have seen significant technological development, performance per square meter has consequently improved. In sum, 1,500 square meters of solar panels were installed.”
The electricity generated from the PV panels is mostly used for company offices and facilities. The electricity required to run the Maisi Alm restaurant, for instance, comes directly from the solar energy generated on its roof. The heat pump in the staff house “Team Camp” as well as the maintenance workshops are also powered by solar energy. “Electricity that’s not used runs back into the Salzburg AG grid”, explains Günther Brennsteiner. “That’s also an area we want to improve in the future, though – by setting up storage possibilities, such as warm water buffer tanks, for excess electricity.”
Objective: 1 million kWh
This positive status quo, however, is just one step on the long road of sustainability the company has been following and is going to go down for many years. Günther Brennsteiner explains: “We aim to further expand our PV installations in the coming years. Until 2027, we want to be able to generate 1 million kWh from solar energy.”
