Electricity agreement to secure the supply in Switzerland
Published: Monday, Mar 25th 2024, 11:21
Retour au fil d'actualité
To avoid electricity shortages in Switzerland in the future, the Federal Council wants to conclude an electricity agreement with the EU. This requires a liberalization of the electricity market, including the free choice of supplier. In return, Swiss energy companies should be able to participate in European committees.
The agreement is intended to contribute to security of supply and grid stability, according to the Swiss government's negotiating mandate. It should also simplify international electricity trading. This is important for Switzerland because its electricity grid is closely linked to that of neighboring countries with over 40 cross-border connections.
According to the government, the aim of the negotiations is to ensure Switzerland's unhindered participation in the European internal electricity market. The grid operator Swissgrid is to be integrated into the European processes for operating the transmission grid on an equal footing.
Open points for discussion
However, the Federal Council would like to protect households and small companies from complete market liberalization. These small end consumers should remain in the regulated basic supply with regulated prices or be able to return to it at any time. Larger companies already decide today which supplier they purchase their electricity from.
Another open point in the negotiations is the regulation of state aid in the electricity market. In addition, the Federal Council does not want any additional inclusion of EU environmental legislation or an unrealistic target for the expansion of renewable energies. The agreement also provides for the inclusion of institutional elements such as the dynamic adoption of legislation.
The two partners already held talks on an electricity agreement between 2007 and 2018. At the time, negotiations were broken off due to unresolved institutional issues. Shortly afterwards, an analysis of electricity cooperation between Switzerland and the EU was commissioned.
Power supply at risk without agreement
The analysis published by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) in October 2021 presents three scenarios. The "No cooperation" scenario sees security of supply in 2025 as unsecured in the extreme case. In addition, grid operational security would be jeopardized in extreme cases and this could result in annual economic losses of up to 150 million euros.
In the second scenario, which focuses on technical cooperation, the electricity supply would be secured. At great expense, security in grid operation would also be guaranteed and market access for Swiss companies would be possible.
In the third scenario, supply is secured, market access is possible and grid operational reliability is guaranteed. It also results in a positive welfare effect of 150 million euros per year. This SFOE scenario bears the name "Electricity Agreement".
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic