At this year’s Energy Research Talks Disentis 2022, Dr. Marius Schwarz addressed the question of how dependent is the Swiss energy transition on developments in its neighboring countries?
Check out the scenarios in our interactive results viewer!
The three key statements:
Expansion targets for new renewable energies (i.e., solar, wind, biomass) are not achieved in the scenarios – how much Switzerland falls below the targets depends on allowed electricity trading and developments in the neighboring countries. Accelerating the uptake of solar power – as it has by far the greatest socio-techno-economic potential for renewable electricity generation in Switzerland – is an important task for the coming years.
Demand for seasonal flexibility to cover winter electricity demand is increasing. Whether this seasonal flexibility comes from gas-fired power plants, with CCS or low-carbon synthetic gas, or more PV systems designed for winter electricity production is still open. The cost development of CCS and domestic synthetic gas production is subject to major uncertainties as well as the feasibility of required carbon and gas storage and transport infrastructure.
🚫 A restriction of electricity trading requires more inland electricity generation and increases the cost for electricity provision substantially by 2050. Also, the demand for seasonal flexibility also increases heavily, potentially exacerbating the issues of synthetic gas and carbon storage.
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