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Where does Switzerland stand in terms of energy supply? Is there a shortage of electricity or gas? New data from the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) and other sources are now helping to answer key questions: How much electricity is currently being consumed – and how much is being produced? How much gas has to be imported? What will be more expensive? The following graphics show the Current situation on the Swiss energy market – you will be continuously updated.
How much electricity is consumed?
How much electricity are the Swiss currently saving in households, in commerce or in industry? An indicator of this is the daily final consumption of Swiss households, commerce, industry and transport. Because the complete data first has to be recorded with a great deal of effort, the consumption officially reported by Swissgrid (orange line) lags behind by 1-2 months. In order to still get an approximation of how much electricity is currently consumed in Switzerland for the current period, estimates the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) consumption based on mathematical modeling (red dashed line). The data is continuously corrected and supplemented.
Important for the interpretation: The weather plays a significant role in how much electricity and energy is currently being saved. The colder, the more energy tends to be used. The distinction between weekdays and weekends also plays a role. The zigzag shape of the line shows that less electricity is used on weekends.
The EWZ, the electricity supplier of the city of Zurich, measures the electricity consumption in the city on a daily basis. This shows that consumption since September has mostly been at the lower end of the minimum for the years 2010 to 2021. Here, too, the weather is likely to have a major influence.
The electricity network operator Swissgrid currently reports electricity consumption in Switzerland only monthly and with a delay. Because it takes a while for the reported data from around 600 local suppliers to be validated. In addition, corrections can still be made up to 6 months later. In the chart below, these data show hardly any effect of the federal government’s austerity campaign compared to previous years. Since October, however, consumption has been significantly lower than in previous years, although the extraordinarily warm autumn weather is likely to be one of the reasons for this.
How much electricity is produced?
Switzerland produces its electricity in various ways. This graphic shows the Percentage of the different types of generation in the daily public electricity production in Switzerland. Electricity production by private individuals and companies that feed energy into the grid, for example from their solar systems, is not included.
The reservoirs in the Swiss mountains are Switzerland’s battery. They can store water that can be used to generate almost 9 terawatt hours of electricity on demand. For comparison: in 2021, Switzerland consumed a good 58 terawatt hours of electricity. In late autumn, the reservoirs should therefore be well filled before they are continuously emptied until late spring. The following graphic shows the current level compared to previous years.
How much gas is currently required?
Since Switzerland does not have any significant gas storage facilities of its own, it has to cover its gas consumption with imports. Some of the imported gas is used to generate electricity and district heating.
How much electricity and gas can Switzerland import?
Switzerland cannot meet its own electricity needs, especially in winter. It is dependent on the import of electrical energy. Switzerland normally gets a lot of electricity from France, most of which is French nuclear power. However, the French nuclear reactors are currently producing significantly less energy than usual.
Since Switzerland does not have its own storage facilities, in the event of a gas shortage it is dependent on countries with storage facilities – Germany in the lead. However, this depends on whether the country can meet its own needs. The graphic shows the current filling level of the gas storage facilities in Germany.
What is more expensive – and what is not?
The national index of consumer prices from the Federal Statistical Office shows the price development of important consumer goods. The price development is measured using a shopping cart. In order to determine inflation, a reference date is assumed (December 2020) and then the development of the price is calculated as a percentage. This shows that the prices for petrol, diesel and gas have risen sharply since the end of 2020.
How are prices developing on the stock exchange?
Electricity is also traded on the stock exchange. Grid operators and producers can stock up on energy there. The price on the so-called spot market for Switzerland shows how expensive electricity is currently being traded for Switzerland. Electrical energy that is available at short notice is traded here. This price had increased tenfold since the summer of 2021 and has now fallen massively again.
The price of gas has also risen sharply since January, as the price chart on the spot market shows. Gas is traded here, which has to be delivered in the coming month. Gas and electricity prices develop in parallel on the spot market for the most part, as there are many gas-fired power plants in Europe that are used to produce electricity during peak demand. A megawatt hour costs well over 300 euros on the spot market at the end of August. At the end of 2021, the price was still well below 50 euros.