Tag Archives: environment

Hydropower accounts for around 60% of total Swiss electricity production. Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller The Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom) has laid out plans to hold back hydropower reserves to help compensate for anticipated energy shortages this winter. Elcom wants hydropower operators to hold back up to 666 gigawatt hours of electricity that would normally be sold on the open market. That’s enough to power 150,000 households for a year. The reserves...

Electricity cuts lasting several hours are predicted this winter in Switzerland, according to Laurianne Altwegg, vice president of the Federal Electricity Commission. This winter we should ensure we have enough candles and wood for a wood stove for those who have one, advised Altwegg in an interview with RTS. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.comOutages may not occur, but it is necessary to be prepared, he said. During the coming winter, it is estimated that Switzerland could fall 3 TWh short of...

Electricity cuts lasting several hours are predicted this winter in Switzerland, according to Laurianne Altwegg, vice president of the Federal Electricity Commission. This winter we should ensure we have enough candles and wood for a wood stove for those who have one, advised Altwegg in an interview with RTS. Photo by MD Molla on Pexels.com Outages may not occur, but it is necessary to be prepared, he said. During the coming winter, it is estimated that Switzerland...

in 2021, about 40% of gas consumed in the European Union came from Russia. EU states accuse Russia of squeezing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Keystone / Jens Buettner The energy crisis in Europe continues to make headlines in Switzerland. This was reflected in the Sunday press which focused on German pressure on Switzerland to implement a gas saving plan, a petition to speed up hydroelectric projects and a spike in Swiss...

The reservoir with the elegant dam near Château-d’Oex is one of more than 50 artificial lakes in the Swiss Alps. Keystone/Alessandro Della Bella Switzerland could face electricity and gas shortages in winter despite sufficient supplies at the moment and considerable reserves, experts say. “We’re witnessing the first global energy crisis, with Europe at the centre,” the head of the Federal Office of Energy, Benoît Revaz, told a news conference on Wednesday. He said...

This week, Benoît Revaz, head of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), said there is an unprecedented level of uncertainty in Europe concerning energy provision, reported RTS. Photo by Pok Rie on Pexels.comPrices have been seriously affected by the war in Ukraine and Switzerland has not been spared, said Revaz. We are now experiencing the first global energy crisis with Europe at the epicentre. A central element of Revaz’s plan to get Switzerland through the crisis is reduced...

Despite the current heatwave residents of Switzerland have not forgotten about how they might heat themselves over winter. With gas shortages looming and persistently high heating oil and gas prices, some are stockpiling wood. Photo by Skylar Kang on Pexels.comIncreased demand for wood is pushing prices higher. Wood prices have already risen 10%, according to RTS. Some vendors have never delivered such large quantities of wood during summer as they have this year. We are selling wood...

On 1 July 2022, the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (FNSI) gave a green light for the restart of Beznau 1, Switzerland’s oldest nuclear reactor. Beznau 1 – Image : AxpoThe reactor, which entered operation in 1969, was shut down on 29 April 2022 for planned annual maintenance. During the work the fuel assembly was replaced, said FNSI. The work was done by more than 400 people including local and international nuclear experts. Beznau 1, Switzerland first operation nuclear...

Authorities have raised the spectre of winter rationing, should supplies be disrupted. © Keystone / Christian Beutler The president of the Swissgas industry platform says Switzerland is not aware of how fragile the situation is and that “it would not take much” to lead to a winter shortage. André Dosé told the External linkNeue Zürcher ZeitungExternal link (NZZ) newspaper on Thursday that looming gas shortages elsewhere in Europe and exploding prices amounted to a...

Switzerland faces a potential gas shortage next winter, warns Switzerland’s Federal Council. Reduced consumption or rationing cannot be ruled out, it warns. © Katie Nesling | Dreamstime.comAt a press conference in Bern on Wednesday, economy minister Guy Parmelin said that there is a very real risk of a gas shortage over winter, reported RTS. Around three quarters of the gas used in Switzerland comes from Germany, he said. If storage facilities cannot be filled as planned a shortage in...