The Compagnie des Alpes group, which runs many of the biggest and best known ski areas in France and has set itself the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030 has put in a pre-order for eight “Made in the Alps” electric snow groomers. Some will go into service this winter at Serre Chevalier.

Groomers are one of the main contributors to CO2 emissions from ski area operations. The main problem with electric groomer viability to date has been designing a machine with enough power and a long enough battery life and fast enough recharge to be commercially viable.

For several years, Compagnie des Alpes has been supporting research and development by the French family-owned business CM Duplon, who are based in the French Alps and the only French manufacturer of snow groomers.

The company carried out two series of tests on prototypes during the winters of 2021/2022 (La Plagne) and 2022/2023 (Tignes), and performances in terms of operating time and consumption proved conclusive, with a proven operating time of 5½ to 6 hours under field conditions.  The use of these machines requires only minor adjustments to groomer working conditions.

The machines an average saving of 80 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year per groomer (i.e. 500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent over the life of a snow groomer including battery manufacture) and the elimination of hydraulic fluids. For the record, Compagnie des Alpes only uses fully decarbonised electricity.

As these initial tests have made the transition to larger-scale production viable, the Compagnie des Alpes says it has decided to order eight pre-series electric snow groomers for operational use, including two during the 2023/2024 peak season and six over the winter of 2024-2025 for all of its ski areas, starting with Serre Chevalier, which has already built a strong reputation for its own in-resort environmental efforts so far generating 30%of its energy needs on site from wind, solar and hydro sources. The move has had  strong support from the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regional authority for the machine’s development.

“After all these years of collaboration with CM Dupon and sharing between this Isère-based company and expert teams from several of our ski areas, I am delighted that we can now move on to the pre-series phase. Indeed, all the trials conducted under field conditions allow us to “convert the try” today. Furthermore, this is also an opportunity to roll out solutions tailored to climate change, which require time and perseverance. We have here a tangible example of what can be achieved through foresight and teamwork,” said David Ponson, head of the Ski Areas and Outdoor Activities BU.

The Compagnie des Alpes group is considering a larger post-test order for these pre-series vehicles and is aiming to convert its entire existing fleet of 140 groomers to electric powertrains.

In the meantime the Compagnie des Alpes is continuing the use of HVO100 biofuel for all its snow groomers, confirming the elimination of fossil fuels from all grooming work.

The switch last winter to biofuel for groomers at all Group ski areas from diesel to HVO was a massive initiative undertaken by the group for an impressive and sustainable reduction in CO2 emissions.

The fuel used is fully renewable and made from waste grease and used vegetable oil, but with no palm oil. HVO is compatible with the equipment of all of the Group’s partner manufacturers, reducing CO2 emissions by 90% and fine particles by 65%.

“Compagnie des Alpes will continue with this transition approach despite the additional cost of this fuel, which is taxed at the same rate as diesel of fossil origin, as its benefits in terms of combating global warming have now been proven. Here too, the aim is to offer a “second life” to cooking oils (which until now were thrown away), thereby avoiding agricultural use/production conflicts between “new” and “used” oils,” a company spokesperson said.

The CO2 reductions actually achieved over the 2023 financial year will be announced at the company’s 5 December Results Presentation.