Switzerland increases hydropower electricity output
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Switzerland increases hydropower electricity output
Switzerland has increased maximum possible output from hydropower by 43 megawatts compared to last year, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
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On 1 January 2025, 704 hydropower plants with a capacity of more than 300 kilowatts were in operation.
This increase was due to plant expansions as well as data adjustments as part of the annual update of the statistics. The expected energy production of the power plants included in the hydropower statistics in 2024 was 37,350 gigawatt hours per year (previous year: 37,171 GWh).
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According to the press release, renovations and new constructions amounted allowed an extra 46 GWh/year. The complete renovation of the Robbia storage power plant contributed the largest share of this at 20 GWh/year.
According to the current Energy Act, the average annual hydropower production should increase to 37,900 GWh by 2035 (reference value).
The cantons with the highest production expectations are Valais with 10,513 GWh/year (28%), Graubünden with 7,935 GWh/year (around 21%), Ticino with 3,624 GWh/year (almost 10%) and Bern 3,402 GWh/year (around 9%).
According to the hydropower statistics, 12 power plants with an expected increase in production of 47 GWh were under construction or renovation last year.
Hydropower generated around 59.5% of domestic electricity in 2024. In the previous year, this figure was 57.6%.
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Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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