ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland plans new hydropower reserves and two or three back-up power plants after officials warned the country would be without power for nearly two days in a worst-case scenario if it does not strike an electricity deal with the EU.
The Swiss government has been working on plans on how to bolster its power network as it moves to more renewable and hydropower, while phasing out nuclear energy.
The government said on Thursday that the cabinet has now agreed to set up a hydropower reserve by the winter 2022/23 season which envisages having storage power plant operators retain some energy in return for an unspecified fee.
It has also instructed the energy ministry to draw up plans to build and operate peak-load power plants.
“The reserve power plants are to be available in the event of extraordinary shortages and are to be operated in a climate-neutral manner,” the government said in a statement, adding it was also preparing measures to increase electricity efficiency.
The choice of technology and location of the back-up plants was still open, but the government’s concept includes the staggered construction of two to three gas-fired power plants with a total capacity of up to 1,000 megawatts.
It cited estimates that the investment costs for the reserve plants could be up to 900 million Swiss francs ($976 million), or less if existing plants and infrastructure were used.
Operating costs would amount to 6 million Swiss francs per year and the fuel costs to between 138,000 and 243,000 Swiss francs per gigawatt hour (GWh) produced if the gas-fired power plants are actually used, it added.
($1 = 0.9222 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Alexander Smith)
