The Luiret project in Western Alps
Renewable Energy in the Western Alps
The Western Alps cover the southeastern part of France (including Savoie and the Provence Alps), the northwestern part of Italy (Piedmont, Aosta Valley), and the southwestern part of Switzerland (Valais). This region is characterized by low land use intensity and abundant land availability. It offers great potential for solar energy due to high insolation levels, while wind energy potential is limited because of irregular wind patterns.
Renewable energy deployment in the Western Alps is currently underexploited, largely due to trade-offs with ecological and cultural landscape values and low public acceptance. Spanning three countries with distinct energy policies, the Western Alps allow investigating how national policies influence renewable energy development in mountains.
This page compiles research projects focused on renewable energy in the Western Alps.
List of ongoing studies in Western Alps:
Market, Socio-political and community acceptance of utility-scale solar
As solar energy expands across Europe, aligning renewable deployment with local priorities is crucial. Our study reveals that developers tend to prioritize economically viable and technically accessible sites, while public authorities base their decisions mainly on environmental criteria. Project submissions show clear spatial patterns, with developers increasingly focusing on areas more likely to receive approval. However, the permitting process remains largely disconnected from community preferences, highlighting the need for more inclusive and balanced planning approaches in mountain regions.
Landscape values and environmental, economic and institutional perceptions of solar PV in the Italian and Swiss Alps
This research focuses on the relationship between landscape values, perceptions of solar PV and support (or opposition) to large scale solar PV projects in rural and mountainous contexts. Specifically, we study how various stakeholders (e.g., local residents and tourists) value Alpine landscapes and perceive the uptake of solar PV through environmental, institutional and land-use lenses. In doing so, we aim to understand which landscape values and solar PV perceptions are mobilised by different stakeholders in their support or opposition to large scale solar PV projects. Empirically, this research looks at six different sites in the Western Alps (Italy and Switzerland), where large scale solar PV projects are either planned or under development. Through this study, we intend to gain a greater understanding of the interactions between rural societies and their landscape in the context of the energy transition in the Alps.
Land use trade offs: (ac)cumulation and saturation of large scale renewable energy technologies in the Alps
This study explores the trade-offs of local communities for large scale solar PV and onshore wind projects. Centering on the Italian and Swiss Alps, this research focuses on the cultural-political worldviews of Alpine communities and how, against the backdrop of the climate and biodiversity crises, they make trade-offs for renewable energy projects. More to that, we look at how these communities understand the (ac)cumulation and saturation of solar PV and onshore wind projects.
