Share of renewables on the rise
The share of renewable electricity in Swiss sockets continues to increase. In 2018, it rose from 68 percent to 74 percent compared to the previous year. In addition to hydropower, other types of renewable electricity are also making gains.
The Federal Office of Energy (SFO) has compiled the data on the Swiss electricity supply mix published. This refers to electricity from the socket, not just electricity produced in Switzerland. This is because Switzerland not only exports electricity, it also imports it. The origin of some of this imported electricity cannot be verified. However, in 2018, this share fell from 16.1 percent to 6.3 percent compared to the previous year.
Production mix is not the same as supply mix
In Switzerland, 55.4% of electricity is produced from hydropower, 36.1% from nuclear power, 2.8% from fossil fuels and just under 6% from renewable energies (= Swiss production mix 2018). However, not only electricity from Swiss production is delivered to Swiss sockets: There is a lively trade with foreign countries, where electricity is exported and imported. Therefore, the Swiss production mix does not match the average composition of the electricity supplied (= Swiss supply mix).
In order to create transparency about the supply mix of each electricity supplier and thus enable consumers to make an informed decision in favor of a particular electricity product, Swiss electricity supply companies have been required by law since 2005 to disclose the origin and composition of the electricity supplied. The declaration is always made retrospectively, based on the data of the previous calendar year. Since 2006, these figures have had to be disclosed to all customers with their electricity bills. Since 2013, the data has also been published on the internet platform www.stromkennzeichnung.ch published.
In the reporting period, the share of renewables in the supply mix was 74 percent, compared with 68 percent in the previous year. Hydropower from large hydroelectric plants accounted for the lion's share here at 66 percent (previous year: 60.5 percent). 76 percent of this was produced in Switzerland, compared with 80 percent in 2017. However, the new renewable energy sources of solar, wind, biomass and small hydropower also made gains, increasing their share of the supply mix from 7.2 percent to 7.85 percent. 91 percent of this came from Swiss production.
However, nuclear power accounts for the second-largest share of the supply mix. Here, after 15.1 percent in 2017, a total of 17.3 percent was registered for 2018. 99.8 percent of this nuclear power came from Switzerland. Fossil energy sources reached a share of 1.7 percent in 2018, while electricity from waste accounted for 0.95 percent.
