These 4 points decide whether Switzerland will have enough electricity in the future

A good example, but not enough: compared to other countries, Switzerland is lagging behind in the expansion of renewable energies. PICTURED: KEYSTONE

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That in itself is a daunting challenge. After all, crude oil provides 43 percent of the energy demand today; Gas another 15 percent. But it’s not the only difficulty. In the electricity system, Switzerland faces another major hurdle: new nuclear power plants are no longer allowed to be built. And the existing nuclear reactors are likely to reach the end of their lives between 2030 and 2040. This removes an important pillar of the electricity market, which supplies electricity constantly throughout the year.

And last but not least, Switzerland will need more renewable energy for another reason – despite falling per capita consumption: the population will grow, the number of electric cars and heat pumps will increase. And thirdly, Switzerland wants to rely on pumped storage plants and “power to gas” in order to be able to store superfluous summer electricity, as it were.

This production itself is very energy-intensive. All of this means: The hitherto relatively hesitant expansion of solar and wind energy must therefore be accelerated significantly. Where does Switzerland stand here? Where are the most difficult hurdles? An overview, background, explanations.

Construction site 1: Photovoltaics: The great hope – and its pitfalls

Switzerland wants to rely on solar power to prevent an impending electricity shortage. In 2050, photovoltaics should deliver well over 30 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year – in contrast to 2.6 TWh today. The good news: There is basically enough space on roofs and facades in Switzerland to produce 67 terawatt hours. The big question is: How can you get property owners and investors to set up panels really quickly now?

In 2020 there was a record increase in new solar energy. However, according to the Swiss Energy Foundation, Switzerland is still one of the worst performers in Europe when it comes to expanding renewables. The foundation warns that the federal government’s expansion targets are – especially if Switzerland wants to reduce CO2 emissions quickly – “insufficient to replace the nuclear power plants that are no longer needed and to ensure the additional electricity required for decarbonization”. In the future, the federal government wants to promote the construction of large photovoltaic systems through auctions.

Construction site 2: winter, imports and the EU

The bottom line is that Switzerland is one of the electricity exporters. In the winter half of the year it has to import, but more electricity leaves the country in summer than is bought in winter. But Switzerland will become a major importer in the 2030s – for several reasons. On the one hand, at least today, solar systems do not primarily supply electricity in winter, when the demand is particularly high, but predominantly in summer. They only supply around 30 percent of their electricity in the winter months, when the electricity demand is particularly high.

On the other hand, the nuclear power plants will one day be switched off. It is still unclear when this will be the case. In principle, they can be operated for as long as they are considered safe. As soon as the reactors are switched off, however, the experts expect a large import requirement – 14 terawatt hours for example in 2034. The supervisory authority Elcom warns: An import requirement of more than 10 terawatt hours means not only a structural bottleneck ”, but also“ a system operation with considerable risks ”.

To make matters worse, Switzerland is likely to be less involved in the future European electricity market after the negotiations on a framework agreement have been broken off. Switzerland is moving “in the direction of an electricity island”, said Werner Luginbühl, President of the Elcom Supervisory Commission, in an interview with CH Media recently. That is why Switzerland “may not be able to import enough electricity in winter”.

There could be supply problems as early as 2025, said Luginbühl. In June, Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga presented her plans to revise the Energy and Electricity Act. It relies on a strategic winter reserve and wants to increase the production capacity of the storage power plants by 2 terawatt hours with a winter surcharge. Combined gas-fired power plants are also no longer taboo to break peaks in winter.

Construction site 3: The big question of investments

Today it is more lucrative for Swiss electricity companies and municipal utilities to invest in renewable energies abroad than in Switzerland – which is being done very actively because of the subsidies there. In June, Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga presented the Federal Council’s plans for what incentives the federal government wants to set in the future so that there is greater expansion in Switzerland as well.

Not only are the previous funding elements to be extended until 2035. There should be new tenders for large photovoltaic systems. There will be investment contributions for large projects and the financial resources for large hydropower plants have been increased.