Despite having the ideal conditions for producing green energy, a new report by the Swiss Energy Foundation (SES) has found that Switzerland is near the bottom of the European table when it comes to generating wind and solar power. The group called for more funding for renewable projects, as the country tries to move away from oil and gas.
Including the 27 nations in the European Union, SES found that Switzerland is 23rd when ranked by the amount of wind and solar energy produced per capita, only narrowly beating Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia. This is made all the more surprising by the fact that the alpine nation has the ideal conditions for producing energy, with good weather, large mountains that reach above the clouds and deep valleys that produce strong winds.
Currently, Denmark produces the most renewable energy in the EU, with 53 percent of its power coming from wind and solar. The SES hopes that Switzerland will introduce similar plans to Germany, which has relaxed regulations around wind turbines and has instructed federal states to produce more wind power.
The SES noted that, despite having better weather conditions than northern European countries, Switzerland still lags behind when using renewable resources. It argued that in order to fulfil the government’s energy goals - where renewable energy must produce 38 terawatt-hours a year by 2035 - and with nuclear power still off the table, it is more vital than ever that more huge solar power plants are built in Switzerland.
Concluding the report, the group said it was now up to the parliament in Bern to create financial incentives and subsidies for entrepreneurs and companies that want to build renewable power plants. “With well-designed funding instruments that cushion the price risk of electricity production, the expansion of solar and wind power production can be pushed forward effectively and quickly,” they said.