The Future of the Swiss Electricity Market: Complete Liberalization and the Role of Nuclear Power

2023-08-27 03:45:00

The designated president of the Swiss Association for Water Management (ASAE) is in favor of a complete liberalization of the electricity market in Switzerland. It further asserts that an electricity mix without nuclear electricity is no longer possible.

‘My ideal would be a good mix without nuclear electricity, but I don’t quite believe in it anymore,’ said Susanne Vincenz-Stauffacher in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the NZZ am Sonntag. The National Councilor (PLR / SG) therefore does not close the door to new nuclear power plants, but only ‘new generation’.

However, she says she continues to believe in the development of hydroelectric power. ‘First of all, we must increase the height of the existing dams. For that, we have to find an agreement with the environmental organizations so that we don’t hold each other back’.

New dams

The one who is proposed as president of the ASAE after the departure of Albert Rösti from the Federal Council believes that small associations for the defense of nature should not have the same weight in appeals as organizations benefiting from broad support. Otherwise, a ‘mini-association’ can ‘throw a spoke in the wheels’, while a solution has been found with the large associations.

Ms. Vincenz-Stauffacher also advocates not systematically protecting the areas located upstream of the glaciers, where new hydraulic dams could be built. ‘Not all areas lend themselves to it in the same way, but there are several where new works would be wise’.

It also recommends reducing the residual flows of watercourses for a limited period of time, if this measure proves necessary for the security of the electricity supply in Switzerland.

/ATS

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