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Winners of the 2025 Watt d'Or awards

Innovative Swiss companies and organizations have long been taking on the challenges of the energy future. It is for them that in 2006, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy has created the Watt d'Or, the quality seal for energy excellence. Behind these projects are people, companies and organizations. The winners of the 2025 Watt d'Or awards have been chosen! This year's trophies were presented to the winners on 9 January 2025 in Bern.

Watt d'Or trophy
Image: BFE

“Energy technologies” category

SeasON: today’s energy – tomorrow’s warmth. A unique and innovative energy solution has been in operation in Frauenfeld (TG) since autumn 2024: the SeasON sorption storage heat pump, developed by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) and Matica AG from Kaltenbach in the canton of Thurgau. SeasON's catchy slogan, 'today's energy – tomorrow's warmth', sums up what it is all about: surplus renewable energy produced in the summer is stored for use in the winter by means of a thermochemical process. The process uses sodium hydroxide solution, which is concentrated using renewable energy or heat in summer by extracting water from it. The sodium hydroxide solution and the water can then be stored separately at room temperature without any losses until winter. When the sodium hydroxide is diluted again by means of evaporation and absorption of water, heat is generated, which can then be used for heating by the sorption storage heat pump with almost no additional electrical energy. The first pilot plant in Frauenfeld has shown how well this works. Two additional larger pilot plants in Switzerland and Germany will follow in the coming months, after which SeasOn should be able to position itself successfully on the market.

“Renewable energies” category

Agrivoltaics in Buchs where the sun provides a double harvest. Plants need sunlight to grow, and solar panels need sunlight to produce electricity. Thanks to the agrivoltaic system on the roofs of the new greenhouses at Lubera AG in Buchs (SG), sunlight can be used for both at the same time. The system, built by the local energy supply company ewb, covers 10,700 square metres and generates around 750,000kWh of solar power for the ewb grid every year. The more than 6,600 photovoltaic panels with an installed capacity of 812kWp were developed by the company Insolight from Renens (VS) and Reech AG from Landquart in Graubünden. The panels, which are seamlessly integrated into the greenhouse roofs, are transparent, so that 20 per cent of the sunlight can be used to produce electricity and 80 per cent is left for the plants in the greenhouse. This guarantees a double 'harvest'.

“Energy-efficient mobility” category

The e-power tunnel: Charging infrastructure for sustainable transport logistics. "We think in generations" is not just Galliker Transport’s slogan, it has been the company's recipe for success for over a hundred years. The third-generation family business knows that it needs long-term visions and sustainable goals to ensure that each successive generation can continue to successfully sustain its strong brand. With its 'Green Logistics by Galliker' concept, the family is committed to sustainable business practices and treating people, the environment and nature with respect. It has set itself the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, a vision that it is now actively putting into practice: around 10 per cent of its vehicle fleet is already equipped with alternative drive systems. The charging infrastructure it uses has also been improved. This has been achieved with an innovative underground e-power tunnel at the company's head office in Altishofen (LU), which can charge 28 electric trucks with up to 200kW of power. Similar tunnels will soon be built at other Galliker sites. Galliker Transport AG carried out this project together with Fent AG from Seon (AG), Thomas Lüem Partner AG from Baar (ZG) and CKW AG from Lucerne.

“Buildings and spatial development” category

Micro-district networks: Sharing heat intelligently with neighbours. Today, it is possible to share electricity from a rooftop photovoltaic system with neighbours for collective self-consumption. However, the same principle makes sense for heating, because many home heating systems are oversized and therefore not used to full capacity. By sharing the heat from your own heating system with neighbours, you can save on maintenance and heating costs. How well this works has been shown by the energy company IWB (Industrielle Werke Basel). Since autumn 2023, three terraced houses in a residential area in Basel have been connected to a ground source heat pump and two gas heating systems to form a micro-district heating network. In the first winter, more than 90 per cent of their heating was provided by renewable energy from the heat pump at a cost 15 per cent lower than before. The micro-district heating network could be a solution for around 300,000 properties in Switzerland that are adjacent to at least one other house in need of a heating solution. Technically, the micro-district heating network is easy to realise. The idea, which originated in Basel, therefore has the potential to be used throughout Switzerland.

Special Jury Award

Network tariffs contribute to an efficient and secure electricity network. In Switzerland, more and more electricity is being produced locally and fed into the electricity distribution network, for example from photovoltaic systems on buildings, while ever more consumers are drawing electricity from the distribution network, such as for electric vehicles and heat pumps. This means that the distribution network is becoming increasingly overloaded. To ensure an efficient and reliable electricity supply for consumers, as well as distribution of the electricity generated, it is not only the expansion of the distribution networks that is needed, but also dynamic network tariffs. Their potential can be fully exploited thanks to the widespread use of smart meters. The electricity industry is actively exploring network tariffs and different approaches. Four projects will receive the 2025 Watt d'Or in the Special Jury Award category: Genossenschaft Elektra, Jegenstorf (BE), Groupe E (FR), AEM (TI) and EKZ together with ETH Zurich (ZH).

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