Federal Electricity Commission reflects on 2022 power shortage warning
Looking back, Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom) President Werner Luginbühl has confirmed the warnings of an electricity shortage. The feared shortage did not materialise, primarily due to the weather, Luginbühl said in an interview on Thursday.
It rained a lot in autumn 2022 and the winter was unusually mild. “That’s the only reason we got off lightly,” said the president of the Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom) in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) on Thursday. The situation was very threatening, he added.
“It is always easy to criticise decisions with hindsight,” said Luginbühl, when asked by the newspaper about a ruling by the Federal Administrative Court last week. According to the ruling, the government should not have issued an operating ordinance for a reserve power plant in canton Aargau, which was intended to supply Switzerland with electricity in the event of a shortage. The judges mainly criticised the fact that the lower court had not explained in sufficient detail why a reserve power plant was needed, said Luginbühl.
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This year had also been a mild winter with above-average precipitation, said the Elcom president. In addition, nuclear power plants had produced more electricity than they had for years. This has led to a slightly positive balance in foreign electricity trading. However, he did not want to speak of the all-clear notice given just over a month ago. In order to be prepared for unforeseen events in the coming winter of 2024-2025, the measures introduced must be continued, said the Elcom president at the Swiss Electricity Congress in Bern in mid-January.
Translated from German by DeepL/amva
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