As of next Saturday, Switzerland will live on credit to cover its energy needs. Local resources are not enough, according to a study by the Swiss Energy Foundation (SES). For SES, the country must bet on its renewable energies to strengthen its autonomy.
Indigenous resources will only have to cover Switzerland’s energy needs until April 19. This symbolic date “day of energy overcoming”, writes SES. Beyond that, the country depends entirely on oil, gas or nuclear fuels (uranium) from abroad.
Switzerland spends on an average net average nearly 8 billion francs per year for these imports. In 2023, most of these-more than 87%-came from EU member countries. But beware, warns SES: with the exception of electricity, EU states essentially play a transit role. They are only marginally involved in the production of imported energy sources.
More renewable energies
In reality, fossil and nuclear energies imported into Switzerland through the EU come largely from the Middle East, from Western Asia, the former Soviet Union, the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom. The nuclear fuel bars used in Switzerland contain, for example, in significant proportion, uranium of Russian origin.
SES pleads for the development of renewable energies to strengthen the country’s energy autonomy. Léonore Hälg, head of the climate and renewable energies field at the Foundation, believes that “the EU will remain an essential trading partner for energy exchanges, in the future in the form of renewable electricity, produced locally in member countries. The agreement on electricity will play a determining role here”.
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In the European average
With an energy independence estimated at 29.6% in 2025, Switzerland is in the average of European countries. In twenty years, Switzerland’s dependence has somewhat reduced since this rate did not exceed 18.8% in 2005.
At the top of the classification of autonomy is Estonia, with an independence rate of more than 98%. At the other end, Belgium, Cyprus and Malta display the lowest levels of independence, equal to 10%. France is 16.6%, Germany at 30.2%.
ATS/ostol
