EDGE is one of the four selected consortia in the context of the SWEET Call 1-2020 with the guiding theme “Integration of renewables into a sustainable and resilient Swiss energy system”.

The overall EDGE objective is to fast-track the growth of locally-sourced decentralized renewable energy in Switzerland and to ensure that by 2035 and 2050, when ambitious shares of renewable energy are reached, the Swiss energy system is designed and operated in a technically and economically optimal as well as secure way, and that it is well positioned in the European markets.

Specifically, the EDGE consortium aims to move beyond generic designs of decentralized renewable systems and markets to a regionalized analysis that is tailored to the Swiss cities, midlands, and the Alps. The pathways towards largely electrified and multi-carrier energy systems will be examined by analyzing electricity, mobility, and heating sectors. The consortium plans to combine research with innovation from three clusters of Pilot and Demonstration project (P&Ds) in urban settings (the cantons of Bern, Luzern, and Aargau), midlands (Waldkirch, St. Gallen), and the Alps (Davos and Bagnes-Verbier, Graubünden and Wallis).

The mutual learning from setting up the P&Ds will ensure feedback loops between theory and practice, and ability to use the outcomes for delineating realistic national-level pathways for successful implementation of nearly or fully renewable Switzerland by 2050. As the energy system is a socio-technical system, the EDGE consortium delivers the essential interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary expertise, ranging from technology development to systems modeling, political science, management, economics, sustainability science, and energy practice, in order to identify the most efficient measures to unlock the full potential of decentralized renewable energy.