A breath of fresh air in summer cable car operations
Many cable cars are asleep in the summer - but they could be generating energy. The Austrian start-up Bergwind shows how it can be done.
The wind can be quite a handful in the mountains - as anyone who has ever shivered on a ski lift knows. Why not use it, thought the team at the young company Bergwind and developed an innovative idea.
The idea is to generate electricity
- outside operating hours
- with integration of the existing infrastructure
- and thus increase the economic efficiency and sustainability of ropeways
- without costly construction work and soil sealing
Sounds sensational!
How can this work?
The idea is based on two modules, the BergWind turbine and the BergSun module. This should provide the right solution for all needs.
Wind turbines make sense at higher altitudes, and photovoltaic modules further down the lift. As both power lines and wind monitors are in the nature of cable cars, this infrastructure can always be used and is very helpful and cost-saving when evaluating and transporting the electricity generated.
Customized power plants are being developed that are precisely tailored to the needs of the respective cable car (as a combination of photovoltaics and wind). They are to be activated outside of operating hours and without activating the cable car motor.
A demo plant is currently being installed in the municipality of Attersee am Attersee, which will already be feeding into the grid with 3 turbines at the Kronberg ski lift in April. The plant will then be open to visitors.
The young company has set itself the goal of manufacturing a market-ready product in Vöcklabruck in 2024 and distributing it throughout Austria.
We are still looking for supporters.
There are various possibilities for sponsoring - you can find out more here.
