South Tyrol: the home of green tech
South Tyrol is one of Europe’s most dynamic green economy hubs, powered by renewable hydropower, a commitment to climate neutrality by 2040, and a rich local network of sustainability-focused businesses, professionals and public bodies. Drawing on the region’s natural resources and Alpine ingenuity, innovative companies are reshaping green sectors from clean energy to sustainable construction.
Monocle meets three figures who are making a global impact in South Tyrol by sharing their expertise and innovations with the world.
Holzius
“There are wooden houses in South Tyrol that are 600 years old,” says Holzius CEO Herbert Niederfriniger. “When wood is used the right way, it doesn’t have an expiry date.” Niederfriniger has set out to prove just that with his Vinschgau-based construction company. Far less carbon intensive than traditional materials, Holzius products are constructed almost entirely from wood (even the ‘nails’) and no glue or chemicals are used. Instead an advanced joinery technique involves one piece of wood taking humidity from another, causing it to swell and form a solid bond. “We work with how wood changes,” adds Niederfriniger.
It’s clear that the Holzius CEO is in love with his work, his surroundings and the chance to build with a natural material. He points at the mountain in the distance, 1,400m above sea level, where he grew up. “I was always in the woods with my father, learning from nature,” says the trained carpenter and wood technician, who previously worked as a forest ranger.
Niederfriniger walks Monocle through his company’s new timber-clad HQ, commissioned in 2024 yet still a work-in-progress. On the open-plan production floor, wood from PEFC-certified forests is cut with huge machines. Founded in 2005 and now part of the Rubner Group, Holzius has clients in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and northern Italy. The company might use traditional, artisanal techniques, but its outlook is distinctly modern. “We are always looking to innovate,” says Niederfriniger.
Fri-El
A small office in Bolzano/Bozen is – quite literally – helping to change the world. In 1994, brothers Josef, Ernst and Thomas Gostner bet that clean energy mattered and started their first hydroelectric plant acquisitions. But the breakthrough came in 2001 when their company, Fri-El, created a joint venture with France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles to build 13 wind farms in Italy. “We are pioneers,” says Fri-El CEO Josef Gostner. “I thought it was going to be the cheapest energy for the future and it happened.”
Since 2017, Fri-El has held a controlling stake in Italian clean-energy company Alerion and become a savvy partner for foreign businesses entering the country’s renewable energy market. Fri-El has excelled at planning and executing, while growing steadily in countries including Romania, Spain and the UK.
Alongside new projects that largely focus on wind power, Fri-El’s latest breakthrough is localised energy-storing grids, made possible thanks to advancing battery technology. With 1,000 megawatts of clean energy currently in its portfolio, Fri-El aims to hit 2,500 by 2028.
It’s an impressive reach for a company rooted in a small Alpine region, developing and operating energy infrastructure across Europe and proving that expertise from South Tyrol can travel far. Yet its home is still firmly in Bolzano/Bozen. “This is a stable and friendly environment,” says Gostner. “And we have a good work-life balance.”
Alpitronic
“It’s a good story,” says Alpitronic CEO Philipp Senoner from the company’s base in Bolzano/Bozen. “We tried to invest in doing something special.”
The market agrees. Today, Alpitronic is a global leader in rapid-charging stations. Its latest model provides enough battery power in 10 minutes for about 300km of travel. The brand’s turnover was almost €1bn in 2025 as it supplied energy to 330,000 cars per day across key markets.
Alpitronic was born in 2009, when four engineers returned to South Tyrol after working on automotive tech in Munich. After early setbacks, Senoner began looking at the company’s technology in a new way. It was on the drive home from an unsuccessful meeting with Porsche that Senoner came up with the idea of adapting Alpitronic’s plug-in power system for aircraft into an EV charging solution. “Sometimes you turn something bad into something good,” he says.
While market-leading technology is essential, design is also central to Alpitronic. As it develops ever quicker, smaller and more efficient stations, the company’s products feature a consistent curved aesthetic. “You remember the design,” says Senoner. “And that it works.”
With Alpitronic’s international clients ranging from BP and Deutsche Telekom to North America’s Ionna, this South Tyrol company is at the peak of its charging powers.
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