Solar energy to meet 10% of Swiss electricity needs
Solar energy will soon cover over ten percent of electricity demand
Keystone-SDA
This year, solar energy is set to cover more than 10% of Switzerland's total electricity requirements for the first time. This corresponds to more electricity than the Beznau nuclear power plant, said the Swiss Solar Energy Association.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Solarenergie soll bald über zehn Prozent des Strombedarfs abdecken
Original
Do you want to read our weekly top stories? Subscribe here.
Since 2020, the Swiss photovoltaic market has been on a steep growth trajectory with annual growth of over 40%, the association added. The trend was reinforced in 2022 by the energy shortage, which led to growth of 58%.
Forecasts were also exceeded last year. Photovoltaic expansion increased by 51% to 1641 megawatts. The Swiss Solar Energy Association (Swissolar) refers to figures from the solar energy statistics of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). Eight percent of Switzerland’s total electricity demand was supplied by solar panels at the end of last year.
Annual production amounted to 4,624 gigawatt hours (GWh), which roughly corresponds to the annual consumption of 1.4 million four-person households or 80% of the annual production of both reactors at the Beznau nuclear power plant, the report continued.
More
More
Mountaintop solar farms spark tensions in Switzerland
This content was published on
Building large solar parks in high-mountain regions is arguably an effective way to produce more power in winter. But it remains highly controversial.
“Solar expansion currently supplies 2 to 3% more of Switzerland’s electricity needs every year. By 2050, solar power will be able to cover 50% of annual demand despite rising consumption,” Swissolar CEO Matthias Egli was quoted as saying in the press release.
This will make solar power “the second pillar of our electricity supply alongside hydropower”.
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
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, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Workplace Switzerland
Meet the foreigners who make up a quarter of the Swiss population
What can be done to protect biodiversity in your country?
Swiss voters are set to decide on a people’s initiative calling for better protection of ecosystems in the country. Have your say on the September 22 vote.
One dead, 2 children seriously injured after car crashes into Geneva sports centre
This content was published on
An 80-year-old driver crashed into several children aged around ten on Saturday after losing control of her vehicle in Geneva, before succumbing to her injuries.
Swiss Centre Party leader says report on proposed federal budget cuts ‘one-sided’
This content was published on
Gerhard Pfister is criticising discussions launched by the Swiss government on an expert report aimed at making savings in the state budget.
This content was published on
Transplantation not only improves quality of life, but it also saves money, said Swisstransplant, particularly where kidney transplants are concerned.
Train station closures a long-term option, says Swiss Federal Railways boss
This content was published on
Vincent Ducrot has not ruled out the closure of train stations in the long term as mobility changes, he told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper.
Liberal Green party members criticise handling of Ameti affair
This content was published on
Some Liberal Greens say the party acted too quickly after Zurich politician Sanija Ameti fired shots at an image of Jesus and Mary.
This content was published on
Switzerland has a new supercomputer named "Alps", officially inaugurated on Saturday at the National Supercomputing Centre in Lugano.
Cold front leads to record-low temperatures in Switzerland
This content was published on
Friday's cold front caused record temperatures and closed mountain passes. The snow line was between 1,200 and 1,500m on Saturday, MeteoSwiss reported.
Collecting of vote signatures to continue in Switzerland as planned
This content was published on
The Swiss government is refraining from taking drastic emergency measures following the revelation of suspected cases of fraud.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.