Offensive from Garsten

Solar power plants don’t just grow in the desert

CCE CEO Martin Dürnberger is not only involved in the construction of PV power plants, but also in the development and construction of energy storage solutions.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/CCE Holding, Werner Kerschbaummayr)

The Pacific Ocean on one side and the Atacama Desert on the other - that's a rough description of the natural boundaries of La Higuera. Around 600 kilometers north of Santiago de Chile, PV specialist CCE has built a gigantic solar power plant. The man behind it is Martin Dürnberger, who is now also investing in his home town of Garsten. 

Renewable solid wood plays a major role in the façades, all three buildings have large-scale photovoltaic systems, rainwater is collected and used to irrigate the plants on the terraces and garden areas - these are just some of the facts on the Green Campus Garsten's business card.

HPW establishes production site
The former Berglandmilch site is around three hectares in size, a large part of which now belongs to high-performance copper wire manufacturer HPW, which is building a production facility here. The approximately 10,000 square meter Green Campus Garsten, which combines offices, health, fitness, childcare and gastronomy and is energy self-sufficient, is being built on around one hectare.

The Green Campus Garsten consists of three buildings. Construction of the project will begin in August or September 2025.(Bild: Green Campus Garsten)

"We are currently in the final preparations for the start of construction, we are holding talks with the professionals and will conclude these in the coming weeks," says Martin Dürnberger (56), who, like Michael Obermair and Ernest Schulz, is one of the project operators. Construction will start in late summer 2025.

Projects in Bad Schallerbach and Ranshofen
Together with Jörg Menyesch, Dürnberger is the head of CCE Holding, which is also based in Garsten, manages the financing of photovoltaic systems and also implements them. In Upper Austria, too, the company has already implemented notable projects, such as the parking lot PV system at the Eurothermen thermal baths in Bad Schallerbach and the solar power plant on the roofs of the AMAG plant in Ranshofen.

CCE's currently largest plant is located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, on a 140-hectare site in La Higuera. It bears the name: La Huella. This means something like trace or footprint. Plants of a similar size are being built in Italy and Romania - they are currently under construction. The goals are clearly defined: "We want to be a leading independent electricity producer in Europe."