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After the massive rejection of a large-scale solar system in the canton of Graubünden, there are increasing voices that the energy transition is in danger. Axpo CEO Christoph Brand even warns that Switzerland could run out of electricity. Now the political fight over the coat decree begins.
Switzerland has set itself high goals when it comes to energy policy: in 2017, voters said yes to the gradual phase-out of nuclear energy. The yes to the Climate Protection Act followed in June 2023. This stipulates that Switzerland will become climate neutral by 2050. That is why Parliament and the Federal Council want to quickly expand electricity production using renewable energies.
Christoph Brand, CEO of the Axpo electricity company, is currently critical of this expansion: “If we continue as before, we will not only miss the energy transition, but we will also run out of electricity.” That’s why new projects are needed in which there is a lively exchange with the local population, emphasizes Brand in an interview with “Arena” presenter Sandro Brotz. “We also have to be self-critical. We could have done more.”
“Objection is the fifth national language”
This week, voters in the Graubünden municipality of Surses clearly rejected a planned solar project with over 68 percent voting against. The high alpine solar park would have produced electricity for over 20,000 households on an area of 66.5 hectares.
Tanja Amacher is managing director of Tourismus Savognin and has spoken out against the construction of the facility. “The problem is the location,” says Amacher. Even if the solar system should have been built in the already developed ski area, summer tourism should not be forgotten. The valley is an “oasis” for guests and locals. “It’s very emotional.”
The skepticism among the population towards high alpine solar projects cannot be dismissed. The voters in Valais also rejected a corresponding decree last autumn.
SP National Councilor and Vice President of Swissolar Gabriela Suter is nevertheless confident: “The energy transition is underway and the solar express continues to roll.” Suter emphasizes several times that there was no headwind for the majority of the planned projects.
The Bernese FDP National Councilor Christian Wasserfallen sees the solar express as stalling at the moment. He also places the reason for this in the environmental associations, which would repeatedly raise objections to projects. “The fifth national language in Switzerland is objection.”
One referendum and two initiatives
With this, Wasserfallen not only took a swipe at his opponent from the left, but was also probably aiming at Elias Vogt, President of the Swiss Free Landscape Association. With two new initiatives, it is defending itself against wind farms that are also being built in forest areas and are therefore a threat to biodiversity. “Switzerland is already very densely populated and nature is under great pressure.” This is also why his association supported the referendum against the so-called coat decree.
Vogt continued that nature conservation as a whole is in danger as a result of the decree. Center National Councilor Priska Wismer-Felder vehemently contradicts this vote: “The decree does not place production above landscape protection, but rather defines suitable areas in which production should have a greater weight.” But that also means, according to the vice president of the Association for the Promotion of Wind Energy, that there will be areas where no electricity is produced.
There was also criticism of the coat decree from Valais SVP National Councilor Michael Graber. For him, the title of the law is already a contradiction in terms. Because a secure power supply with renewable energies “is currently not technically possible”.
The political fight over the coat decree is likely to start again soon. Voters will decide in June.