Federal energy law and the electricity supply law – Swiss people said YES
Yesterday, 9 June 2024, the Swiss people expressed their opinion with a large majority in favour of the amendment to the Federal Energy Law and the Electricity Supply Law, which will come into force from 1 January 2025.
This law provides for various measures to guarantee Switzerland’s electricity supply based on renewable energy. The objective is to lay the foundations for faster growth of renewable energy, ensuring security of supply and the implementation of the 2050 Strategy.
Efforts will focus on increasing energy production from renewable sources and reducing energy consumption. By 2035, 35 terawatt-hours of electricity are expected to come from new renewable sources, nearly six times more than today. Most of this energy will likely come from photovoltaic systems. Furthermore, the net amount of electricity imported during the winter quarters must not exceed 5TWh.
Consumption will also be subject to reduction objectives, in fact the average energy consumption per person and per year will have to be reduced by 43% by 2035 and by 53% by 2050, compared to 2000 levels.
The most important aspects of the law are:
- Renewable production plants of a certain size will be considered of national interest and their construction could prevail over municipal and cantonal interests
- Facilitated procedures are envisaged for plants located in non-buildable areas
- Support measures for renewable electricity production plants will remain in place and will be strengthened
- Network operators will have to ensure a defined share of electricity from Swiss renewable sources in the universal service
- Electricity companies will have to include a minimum share of self-produced Swiss renewable electricity, invoiced to end customers at production cost. Alternatively, this quota can be fulfilled with medium and long-term supply contracts.
It remains to be seen whether the ambitious objectives set by the Swiss Confederation will be compatible with the exit from nuclear power decided by the population in May 2017. In recent months, in fact, nuclear energy has returned to the foreground in political discussions in Switzerland, with various actions that aim to ensure a future for nuclear power plants, as part of the country’s energy transition.
From the initiative filed in mid-February, to the postulate accepted by the Council of States at the beginning of March, appeals are multiplying not to close the door to the atom, as a means in the transition towards climate neutrality by 2050.
Affair à suivre…