Swiss wind production hit record levels in 2023
The country’s wind farms produced 169 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity last year, 12.5% more than in 2022 and enough to cover the needs of some 153,000 people.
Last autumn, Switzerland was hit by several storms, which enabled the turbines to produce a maximum amount of electricity, the Suisse-Eole group said on Wednesday.
This was the case, for example, at the Peuchapatte wind farm in canton Jura, which produced 17.1 million kWh in 2023, 43% more than forecast and an all-time record.
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The two turbines at Saint-Brais (canton Jura) and the sixteen at Mont-Crosin (canton Bern) also broke records, producing 9.6 million kWh and 91.1 million kWh respectively.
In addition, all six wind turbines at Sainte-Croix (canton Vaud) have been connected to the grid since January. Another record output from Swiss turbines in 2024 is thus to be expected.
Far behind
Yet Switzerland still lags far behind, says Suisse-Eole. With a production share of 0.3% of the electricity consumed in Switzerland, Swiss wind production is consistently at the bottom of European rankings. “This is due to the slowness of the procedures,” points out Suisse-Eole director Lionel Perret.
The share of wind power in Europe was 19% in 2023. According to energy-charts.info, 34% of electricity production in Germany was generated by onshore wind turbines. The figure was 14% in Austria and 11% in France and Italy. “But the wind doesn’t stop at borders, and it’s high time Switzerland took advantage of it,” says Suisse-Eole.
Adapted from French by DeepL/dos
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