Switzerland supports three gas-fired power plants abroad
Published: Monday, Nov 11th 2024, 17:00
Updated At: Tuesday, Nov 12th 2024, 00:59
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Swiss Export Risk Insurance (Serv) is now insuring three guest power plants abroad, two of them in Vietnam and one in Turkmenistan. Seco confirmed corresponding information in the Tamedia newspapers on Monday to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The sum insured for the three gas-fired power plants amounts to a total of CHF 520 million, writes Tamedia. However, the fact that the plants emit eight million tons of CO2 per year, the one in Turkmenistan five and the other two in Vietnam a total of three million CO2, is far more worrying. This corresponds to around 20 percent of Switzerland's greenhouse gas emissions.
This can be seen as problematic because Switzerland pledged at the Glasgow Climate Conference at the end of 2021 that it would no longer favor companies that implement oil, coal or gas projects abroad.
"Careful consideration required"
In response to an inquiry, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) writes that Switzerland is indeed endeavoring to implement the Glasgow Declaration in the area of service. However, there may be conflicts of interest in individual cases that require careful consideration. Serv will certainly no longer insure any projects based on coal, oil or peat.
Seco also states that gas-fired power plants remain important for a more climate-friendly energy supply and economic progress in developing and emerging countries. This is particularly the case if the power plant in a country contributes to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions by eliminating the need for coal or oil-fired power plants.
And it points out what the two overarching legal objectives of the Serv are: To create and maintain jobs in Switzerland and to promote the exports of Swiss companies. According to Tamedia, the general contractor Calik Enerji Swiss AG in Lucerne and the company General Electric Global Parts & Products in the canton of Aargau are set to benefit from the projects.
©Keystone/SDA
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