Switzerland and the EU still use Putin’s gas: no more gas from Russia? Are you kidding? Are you serious when you say that?

However, gas has passed prime. Because consumption increases global warming and fills the pockets of autocrats like Vladimir Putin. According to the Swiss Gas Industry Association (VSG), 43 percent of the gas imported to Switzerland via Germany in 2021 came from Russia, followed by Norway with 22 percent and various EU countries with 19 percent.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the share of Russian gas has fallen drastically. On the one hand, Russia’s gas supply is reduced, on the other hand, the efforts of European states to save gas and obtain it from other regions.

Switzerland buys its natural gas from the EU

But Putin’s gas is still flowing to Switzerland. How long has it been since the war started? Even the major Swiss gas suppliers do not have a definitive answer to this. VSG writes on its website that it is currently not possible to say with certainty which countries the gas used in Switzerland comes from. From natural gas in eastern Switzerland to the IWB and Gasverbund Mittelland (GVM) to Energie 360° in Zurich: when asked, they all mean the European Union and the European gas trading markets from which they supply gas. Nobody has a direct supply relationship with Russia.

Data on EU gas supply sources show that imports via pipelines dropped significantly last year. According to the European Association of Gas Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-G), only 19 percent of pipeline gas in the EU comes from Russia. “Since Switzerland buys gas from EU countries, these data should also apply to Switzerland,” writes a GVM spokesperson on the request.

However, the decline in Russia’s pipeline gas imports does not mean that the EU and Switzerland are disconnected from Russian gas. Europe’s thirst for gas is only partially met by other countries of origin, but also partially by liquefied natural gas (LNG), also by ships from Russia. The EU and Switzerland imported about 20 percent more Russian liquid gas in 2022 than the previous year, while saving on Putin’s pipeline gas. Overall, LNG accounted for 34 percent of gas supplies in the EU last year.

Energie Service Biel/Bienne (ESB) is the only gas supplier in Switzerland that relies on certificates of origin. Since 2019, the ESB has guaranteed the source of the natural gas share from the North Sea (Norway).

However, this system also has pitfalls. “We purchase certificates of origin from production facilities in Norway, but it is unclear whether this electricity will come here,” ESB spokesman David Chaignat explained when asked. Because it is only “measured” at the generation site, but the gas converted to electricity is fed into the Europe-wide grid – and there it is no longer physically possible to distinguish between “good” and “bad” electricity. other: the source of the energy source evaporates by itself.