Switzerland–EU electricity agreement: opportunities and risks at a glance

Why action is needed

Switzerland currently has one of the most stable electricity grids in the world. However, stability is not a law of nature, but the result of functioning international cooperation. With 41 cross-border lines, the Swiss electricity grid is an integral part of the European interconnected grid, which connects over 30 countries and ensures the electricity supply for more than 500 million people. This integration makes a significant contribution to the stability of the Swiss electricity grid. Put simply: the larger the interconnected grid, the more stable the overall system. Power plant outages or fluctuations can be managed more easily in a large community.

While the EU has established uniform rules and continues to develop them, thereby driving forward the internal electricity market at full speed for years, Switzerland has been negotiating an electricity agreement with the EU, with interruptions, for seventeen years now and is increasingly being excluded. A solution for cross-border cooperation between Switzerland and the EU in the electricity sector is long overdue. And we have never been as close as we are now.

Risks without an electricity agreement with the EU

Without contractually regulated access to the EU internal electricity market, Switzerland faces significant disadvantages in the medium term. If the electricity agreement is rejected, the current status quo will no longer exist. The basis for today’s cooperation with the EU in the electricity sector would fall away. A new era would begin. The associated risks are varied in nature:

Threat to security of supply: Without cross-border capacities secured under international law, there is no guarantee that enough electricity can be imported into Switzerland in winter. The risk of shortages is increasing.
High additional costs for reserve power plants: According to the Ecoplan study commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE, without an electricity agreement Switzerland would have to build additional fossil-fuel reserve power plants costing around 25 billion francs by 2050 in order to secure supply in winter.
Increasing grid load: Unplanned electricity flows are increasing, and Swissgrid has to intervene more and more frequently to stabilise the system. This entails high costs, which ultimately have to be borne by electricity consumers.
Limited market access: Without an electricity agreement, Swiss electricity market players would continue to have only limited access to the European electricity markets. The intraday market in particular – essentially the last-minute exchange for electricity – is of great importance for the integration of renewable energies.
Political isolation: Switzerland would still be systemically part of the European interconnected grid, but would have no say in the rules and developments. We would, so to speak, still be on the train, but would not be allowed to have a say when it comes to the timetable and setting the points.

Political responsibility

Without an electricity agreement, Switzerland risks becoming a spectator rather than a co-creator in shaping the European electricity system. For a country at the heart of Europe that relies on imports in winter and primarily on export opportunities in summer, this cannot be an option. The energy transition is a generational project that we can only implement successfully together. Without the electricity agreement with the EU, we are putting security of supply, economic viability and the successful integration of renewable energies at risk.

That is why BKW is clear: it is time to assume political responsibility and act in the interests of the community. The electricity agreement is not a nice-to-have, but a strategic imperative.

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