Warm and wet winter boosted Swiss electricity supply

KEYSTONE

Lower electricity consumption coupled with more hydropower generation helped Switzerland meet its winter energy needs.

“The temperatures in winter were relatively high. This means that gas and electricity consumption was also comparatively low Urs Meister, managing director of the Electricity Commission (Elcom), which monitors Switzerland’s electricity supply, told Swiss broadcaster SRF. In addition, Switzerland’s lucky weather gave it a wet winter with lots of rain and snow. Accordingly, the energy companies were able to produce a lot of electricity with their hydroelectric power plants.

The situation this winter was therefore extremely positive, says the Elcom boss: “We were even able to export electricity for longer periods of time.” This fact is notable because Switzerland usually imports electricity from France or Germany in winter. The long-term average is around 4 terawatt hours (TWh).

It also helped that most of the French nuclear power plants are back online. Unlike in autumn and winter 2022/2023, when around half of the systems were shut down due to unscheduled inspections. This is also why the feared scenario of a shortage did not occur.

No power shortage situation

In Switzerland, there has never been a shortage of electricity, even in the second winter since the outbreak of the Ukrainian war. Since then, Switzerland has been preparing more intensively to avert possible electricity shortages in the winter, for example by using water reserves or reserve power plants that run on gas or oil. At the same time, large solar systems are being planned in the Alps and a debate about new nuclear power plants has flared up again.

Translated from German using DeepL/ac

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