With the replacement of the motor of aerial cableway 2 to Crap Masegn, WAG has achieved a further increase in energy efficiency. The old Ward-Leonard drive of the aerial cableway to the Crap Masegn mountain station was replaced by an efficient drive system. In the course of this, not only the inverter but also the motor was replaced.
The motor is a 500kW motor that fulfils the latest efficiency requirements. Thanks to this replacement, electricity consumption can be reduced by a total of 84MWh (84,000 kWh) per year, which corresponds to around 30% of the cable car’s total consumption. This is more than the solar installation on the roof of cable car 1 at the Laax Murschetg valley station produces per year (around 70,000 kWh). Converted, around 60 electric cars could drive 12,000 kilometres a year without producing CO2.
Motor technologies have changed continuously in recent years. More efficient, more powerful and more reliable motors have come onto the market. The Weisse Arena Group has replaced the old engine in order to benefit from these technological advances. These investments pay off not only in terms of energy efficiency, but also financially. The cost of the conversion for the frequency converter and the motor is around CHF 600,000. The resulting annual electricity savings amount to CHF 12,500. Taking into account the service life of 25 years, this results in total electricity savings of 1,500 MWh.
