Our clean energy

WE ARE GREEN

We love mountain, we are immersed in an environment of wild and unspoiled beauty, in a nature that asks us nothing but to be respected.
La Thuile is a special place that we want to preserve for our well-being and that of future generations, to contribute , in our small way, to save the planet and guarantee better living conditions for everyone.
We are so aware of this important responsibility that we have adopted an eco-sustainable approach in our company.

This path has led Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo to save energy and water resources through a large water basin for snowmaking. In fact, this basin collects water from melting snow during spring and summer, which will then be used during the winter to produce artificial snow.

In this way, it is possible to make snow without affecting the hydric resources during the winter, the driest period of the year for mountain areas (the water in winter is ice and snow, on the other hand in summertime there is a lot of water, due to melting snow in high altitudes). 

Moreover, Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo has undertaken the task of self-production of clean energy. In fact, the company has two hydroelectric turbines and one solar plant at Les Suches. Because self-production is not enough for all its lifts, it needs to buy energy from an external supplier: the Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo decided to purchase clean energy solely from CVA, the hydroelectric company that produces green energy from the water of Aosta Valley. Thanks to this choice, Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo has obtained a “green certification”.

Finally, for reducing the number of “throw-away” chip cards, Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo offers its customers a rechargeable card at the price of 2 Euros, that can be used for many years on all ski resorts in Aosta Valley.  
  

PROGRAMMED SNOWMAKING
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
> 120,000 m3 water collection basin year of construction: 2006
Purpose of the basin is to collect water in the period of melting when the resource is abundant and use it during the winter when it is scarce,
minimizing utilization. During the summer the basin can bealso used as a water resource for fire prevention.

> Snow cannons: Italy 305 - France 118
> km of track covered by artificial snow: 49%

HYDROELECTRIC PLANT

> 2 turbines driven by falling water
> year of construction: 2015
> average annual production of more than 1,200,000 kWh 

PHOTOVOLTAIC PLANT
                                           
> 49.12 KW power peak installed in Les Suches in December 2010
> average annual production of more than 48 kWh