Greater independence with its own solar power

While the production of solar power belonged to the world of idealists just a few years ago, the reality is now quite different: this year, the price of electricity climbed to such high record levels that solar plants are now an economic must. Back then, when planning the new photovoltaic system on the fruit processing centre in Sulgen, sustainability considerations were still at the forefront. Holderhof Produkte AG makes such considerations with all its investments. Now, however, Holderhof’s managing director Christof Schenk is glad that he was able to put the 900-kilowatt plant into operation this autumn, primarily for economic reasons. “More than half of the solar electricity now flows from the roof directly into the processing machines, cooling, storage or to other electricity consumers in the building.” The company would otherwise have to buy this from the electricity supplier at currently very high prices. Holderhof Produkte AG agreed with the owner of the plant on a fixed purchase price per kilowatt hour for all the solar electricity produced on the roof for the next 25 years. For Holderhof Produkte AG, this provides long-term planning security in production with an attractive, stable electricity price.

50 percent on-site consumption

The 5,000 square metres of solar modules in Sulgen produce an average of around 750,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. By way of comparison, this is theoretically enough to supply around 200 average households with four people in an apartment building with electricity for a year. Holderhof Produkte AG, however, needs the solar power primarily for processing fruit into juices and other natural products. The solar company MBR Solar, which was commissioned with the project, calculated a on-site consumption share of about 50 percent. This is the solar electricity that flows directly from the roof into the production halls at the same time. The surplus electricity flows back into the regional electricity grid at the energy-return tariff. The company in turn draws certified hydroelectric power from this grid when too little or no electricity comes from the roof, for example in bad weather or at night.

Further expansion is planned

In the long term, Holderhof Produkte AG wants to produce as much of the solar power as possible itself, which all production sites consume in total over the year. A plant of similar size to the one in Sulgen is therefore to be built on the roof of the beverage bottling plant in Henau as soon as possible. Together with the planned solar plant on the newly constructed herb drying plant in Ufhofen, the company will then soon be very close to achieving its target. “In this way we are fulfilling our responsibility for the planned transformation of the economy in Switzerland towards the use of more renewable energies,” says Christof Schenk. But above all, by producing its own electricity, the company is making itself less dependent on price fluctuations on the energy markets.

The solar plant on the fruit processing centre in Sulgen was commissioned in autumn 2022 and supplies around 750,000 kilowatt hours of electricity annually.