Is Switzerland threatened with a power shortage?: Regulators warn of “considerable uncertainties”

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Elcom president Werner Luginbühl said this to the media in Bern on Tuesday. Since last summer, there have been mostly positive developments: “Some calm has returned to the energy markets, Europe has reduced its dependence on Russian gas and electricity consumption has been continuously reduced,” said Luginbühl.

However, the markets are still volatile. Because three nuclear power plants (nuclear power plants) are less connected to the grid in Germany, the availability of nuclear power plants is always uncertain in France and Swiss nuclear power plants are also getting older, there are still uncertainties in the form of hydropower reserves, emergency power generators and emergency gas plants.

“There cannot be a completely clear answer,” said Luginbühl. If there really were an above-average winter and several domestic and foreign nuclear power plants fail at the same time, this could become a problem, according to the electricity regulator.

‘That would buy us time’

Overall, however, the situation is considerably less tense than a year ago, said Urs Meister, general manager of Elcom’s technical secretariat. The market assumes a significantly lower risk of a supply bottleneck. Nevertheless, the energy market is still subject to major fluctuations.

In the long term, from Elcom’s perspective, it would be desirable for the Swiss nuclear power plants to continue operating for at least sixty years. “That would give us time to push the expansion with renewable energy,” said Luginbühl. The Federal Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety (Ensi) must decide whether nuclear power plants may remain connected to the grid for more than sixty years. (SDA)

Source:Blick