All experts predict that Switzerland’s electricity consumption will increase significantly in the coming years. The conviction is such that Federal Councilor Albert Rösti is preaching for a step back, regarding the ban on building new nuclear power plants. In this context, it is surprising to note that the trend has actually been downward for almost fifteen years.
The peak of 2010 has in fact never been reached again, reveals the “Tages Anzeiger”. Electricity consumed in Switzerland in 2023 was around 6% lower than in the record year, or a rate equivalent to 2004. However, during these twenty years, the population increased by around one and a half million people.
For Jürg Rohrer, energy expert at the University of Applied Sciences in Wädenswil (ZH), the explanation can be found in the new regulations put in place by Switzerland, in the wake of the European Union. He cites, for example, the new display on household appliances or the replacement of incandescent bulbs with LEDs. In short, it is because devices are more efficient that consumption decreases, while the population grows.
Note also that solar production not injected into the network, because it is consumed by the producer, escapes the statistics. And this is much more important than we thought. “In the energy outlook, the growth of solar electricity has been underestimated,” explains Marianne Zünd, spokesperson for the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE). Where Switzerland was counting on an average of 3% self-consumption per capita in 2020, this figure is now estimated at around 10%.
Despite everything, Jürg Rohrer considers that the predictions of increases for the future remain correct. And the expert points to heat pumps, electric cars and artificial intelligence. However, he notes that significant energy savings are still possible in Switzerland and that they would be much quicker to implement than “the construction of new nuclear power plants”.
