Switzerland must urgently improve electricity distribution, says new sector boss

Schwab is calling for neighbourhood distribution networks to be built more quickly. Keystone / Valentin Flauraud

Switzerland needs to develop its electricity transmission and distribution network. This is what the new president of the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies, Martin Schwab, calls for in an interview with Swiss public radio SRF on Saturday.

The federal government plans to speed up the authorisation procedures for transforming and extending the electricity transmission network. But for Schwab, the plan does not go far enough. He is also calling for neighbourhood distribution networks to be built more quickly.

Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here.

For example, he would like more flexible requirements for transformer stations. Currently these can only be built in building zones. But in a neighbourhood of detached houses, it is sometimes difficult to find a site for this type of technical installation.

‘Regrettable’ objections

Voter approval of the Electricity Act was intended to facilitate the planning of 16 hydropower plants. The authorities and the associations had agreed on 15, but the Swiss parliament added a 16th. Some associations have since defected and intend to lodge an appeal, a “regrettable” situation, says Schwab.

+ Switzerland needs energy, but what kind?

“Each objection increases the likelihood that we will need gas-fired power stations to ensure supply,” he says. “The 16 projects are urgent, as is the development of wind and solar power in the Alps.”

He also fears that a “yes” vote on the biodiversity initiative, with its demands for landscape protection, could put the brakes on the development of wind power. The initiative committee does not accept that intervention should be possible even in nationally protected areas, if overriding interests of national importance are at stake.

Translated from German by DeepL/gw

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here. If you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here. To offer feedback on this news story, please write to [e-mail].