« Only the continued reduction of our energy consumption will allow us to close the loop »

Each month, we survey different sectors and professions on specific topics. For this month of October, the floor is given to electricity suppliers regarding Switzerland's energy policy.

The answers of Christian Petit, CEO of Romande Energie.

Parliament and the Federal Council are focusing on increasing renewable energy in Switzerland, but shouldn't we rather encourage modernizing the grid and improving energy storage?

To get out of fossil fuels, it is first essential to promote and develop domestic renewable energy production and, to do this, to speed up administrative and legislative procedures. Many alpine wind, hydro or photovoltaic projects could meet this need, but require stepping up the pace. According to AES's website, if all the major projects awaiting construction were realized, annual production would reach 4.6 terawatt-hours.

Given the intermittency of renewable sources and Switzerland's enormous solar ambition, it is indeed essential to work in parallel on grid flexibilization and on increasing our storage capacities. This would help solve the country's major energy problem, which is the imbalance between summer and winter.

Strengthening and modernizing the grid is therefore a priority and this requires speeding up procedures, maintaining the WACC (calculated average cost of capital, editor's note) at its current level so as not to discourage investments in this area, and the emergence of a flexibility market in Switzerland that is sufficiently attractive for private investors.

Regarding storage, the main issue is the transfer of electricity from summer to winter. In this context, it is essential to implement the 15 hydraulic projects from the round table, projects included in the new Electricity Act.

It will be about encouraging the population to change their consumption habits, for example by consuming the surplus solar energy during the day, and by self-consuming for solar producers.

In the longer term, the Confederation must equip itself with a true "Hydrogen/Synthetic Gas Strategy". By itself, it will give potential investors visibility on the support measures necessary to set up seasonal storage based on CO2-neutral gas (see “Urgence énergie et climat” by Roger Nordmann).

It will also be about encouraging the population to change their consumption habits, for example by consuming the surplus solar energy during the day, and by self-consuming for solar producers. Not to forget all the energy efficiency and sobriety measures without which the supply security objectives cannot be achieved. It is this balance that matters.

Isn't it shocking that the Confederation is considering curbing solar production because the grid is not sufficiently adapted to absorb all that energy?

It is the DSOs (distribution grid operators) who must curb certain productions and not the Confederation. It concerns the proper functioning of the grid which, today, depending on the conditions, is not ready to absorb all this electricity produced in bidirectional mode. Here again, it is important to recall the importance of changes in consumption habits to encourage solar producers, above all, to consume their production, to shift the use of certain electrical appliances or the charging of their electric vehicle, or even to complete their installation by adding a battery.

The Confederation could, however, play a key role in regulation and information. As long as a system for transferring electricity from summer to winter is not technically and economically possible, it is clear that Switzerland will produce more and more surplus and useless electricity at very sunny hours in summer. Part of this production will have to be curtailed so that it does not spill onto the grids. This is the most pertinent way to avoid overinvestment in the networks that would be a source of large increases in customers' bills.

As a producer and distributor, what are your expectations of the authorities to get out of this deadlock?

The authorities have already taken an important step through the Electricity Act which will give DSOs the possibility to curb solar installations under certain conditions, to reduce the amount of the take-back prices for spilled electricity by bringing these prices closer to the market and by considering a « Grid Express » modeled on a «Solar Express» or a «Wind Express».

We are now awaiting FOEN's Hydrogen Strategy which must be published at the end of the year and which, by its ambition, will demonstrate whether the Confederation has grasped the scale of the summer-winter imbalance challenge to be resolved by 2050.

All studies and scenarios (from FOEN, Axpo, etc.) show that Switzerland's energy policy is ambitious, but realistic.

From your experience, are the goals set by politicians regarding the energy transition always realistic, achievable or, on the contrary, still very hypothetical?

All studies and scenarios (from FOEN, Axpo, etc.) show that Switzerland's energy policy is ambitious, but realistic. Unlike our large European neighbors, we have very significant hydroelectric production which can still be increased. This gives us the largest base of controllable and available electricity for most of the year, as well as great flexibility day/night, weekday/weekend and even summer/winter.

Studies show that it is possible to complement this hydro production with solar and some wind while safely extending the life of our nuclear power plants (the time it takes for these new renewable energies to become sufficiently available).

But only the continuous reduction of our per capita energy consumption, as foreseen in the Climate Act and the Electricity Act, will allow us to close the loop. Like any strategy, it can only succeed if everyone believes in it, if we create a national momentum to achieve it. However, if we persistently continue to doubt, to consider other paths hoping to find a miracle solution, then we will divide ourselves, mechanically hinder our efforts and will not succeed. And lots of people will then tell us: "We told you so." Forward!

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