A winter without an energy shortage in sight in Switzerland, but the risk has not disappeared – rts.ch

This year, the Confederation is not running a prevention campaign to ask people to save energy to get through the winter. The situation has eased on both the gas and nuclear markets.

Europe, including Switzerland, has turned away from Russian gas since the start of the war in Ukraine and now obtains its supplies from the United States.

European nuclear power plants are generally all at the end of their life or in advanced age and must be replaced. But the current pace is not enough

On the electricity side, French nuclear power plants, many of which were shut down two years ago, produce enough to export to Switzerland, where 70% of the energy used comes from abroad.

>> Reread: Guy Parmelin: “In the event of a very cold winter, it will be necessary to make more energy savings”

Not long term

However, this respite may not last if the rate of renewal of European nuclear installations does not increase, estimates Marc Müller, energy engineer. “A nuclear power plant is like a car with 400,000 km (…): a priori it works, but you can have a breakdown,” he illustrates on La Matinale on Monday.

According to him, European nuclear power plants which are “generally all at the end of their life or in advanced age” must be replaced. However, “the current pace is not sufficient. So one day or another, we will find ourselves in a problematic situation again”, anticipates Marc Müller.

The solution is simple, according to Jacques Mauron, general director of Group E: we must produce more on Swiss soil. And we can afford it, he believes. “We have enough renewable resources to have our energy independence.” But this implies “accepting having to build the necessary infrastructure,” he adds.

Develop wind power

To be even more comfortable, Switzerland has two “completely renewable” ways of producing more electricity during the winter, also indicates Jacques Mauron.

“The first is the dam raising part where we increase water stocks to keep more during the winter,” he explains. The second way is the development of wind energy. “In Switzerland, we are really late,” he believes.

He notes that Switzerland has made efforts “over the last two years” to develop photovoltaics, but this energy is insufficient in winter. “It only produces a quarter of its electricity during the winter semester,” he says. Wind power, which produces “two thirds of its energy during the winter semester”, is therefore according to him “an energy which combines extremely well with photovoltaics” and “with hydraulic storage capacity”.

Philéas Authier / juma