hydroelectric power
Throughout its history, ewz has been committed to renewable energies, investing in sites offering optimal availability of natural resources for the relevant technology. And wherever standards of efficiency, climate and environmental impact and acceptance of the investment can best be fulfilled. The long-term target volume for the production portfolio is around 5.2 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. Switzerland’s existing hydropower plants produce around 2.4 TWh. Through wind farms in Germany, France, Sweden and Norway, ewz draws an additional 1 TWh in green electricity. Reaching this ambitious expansion target will require production capacities of around 1.8 TWh of green electricity to be procured or produced within ewz.
Under the most recent credit facility, in 2017, around one third of the funds were earmarked for projects in Switzerland. Since then, ewz has almost reached this target with its investment in the Sisslerfeld wood-fired combined heat and power plant and the planned reconcessioning of the Tiefencastel West power plant. This credit facility does not cover the numerous photovoltaic systems that ewz has installed in recent years throughout Switzerland, such as the first large-scale high-alpine solar energy facility, on the Albigna dam in Val Bregaglia. ewz is once again planning to invest one third of the new credit facility in Swiss plants.
ewz owns or has a stake in 18 wind farms. In 2021, the annual production from all these wind power investments, with a total of 113 wind turbines, was 1,048 GWh – almost equivalent to the ewz share of power production from the Gösgen nuclear power plant, or a third of the electricity demand of the city of Zurich. In 2020, two flagship projects were completed in Norway – the Stigafjellet and Måkaknuten wind farms. And in summer 2020, ewz also entered into a strategic cooperation for the French wind market. Working with Ostwind International SAS, ewz will develop ten wind farm projects (in German) in France by 2027. Construction on the Camblain wind farm will begin in April 2021, with the four wind turbines scheduled for commissioning in March 2022.
The City Parliament approved the credit facility on 10 March 2021 by 100 votes to 14. The electorate of the city of Zurich will decide on the credit facility of CHF 200 million on 13 June 2021. Voters were presented with the following proposal (in German) (referendum newspaper):
For the creation or acquisition of power generation plants that use renewable energies, for the acquisition of or increased investment in companies which control such power generation plants, for the establishment of companies that control or create such power generation plants, as well as for the provision of loans to such companies, a credit facility of CHF 200 million is to be granted.
On 13 June 2021, the voters of the City of Zurich approved the proposal with 83.2 per cent (in German) in favour.
- 22 wind turbines
- 94.6 MW output power
- 350 GWh green electricity per year
- Commissioning in November 2020
Europe has an integrated energy system with a highly interconnected high-voltage grid. In geographic terms, it is essentially immaterial where a power plant feeds the electricity that it produces into the grid. The important thing is that throughout Europe, there is enough electricity produced to meet demand at any given moment (the ‘pool of electricity’). So for the transition to renewable energy, which ewz supports, and for secure, sustainable power supply, it is the volume of renewable energy produced rather than the production site that counts. To save on transmission costs, physical electricity is generally sold directly from the foreign production site. The guarantees of origin (in German) from the company’s own production facilities are decoupled from the physical flow of electricity and can be applied as an independent certificate for fuel mix disclosure, regardless of location.
Despite extensive efforts, ewz has not yet managed to establish a wind farm in Switzerland. For around 12 years, ewz has been working with partners in the Vaud Jura to establish the two wind farms of Mollendruz and Provence. The planning and approval process for wind farms is long, their acceptance disputed – particularly among environmental organisations. The wind farm on the Mollendruz pass is set to include 12 wind turbines and enable annual power production of 60 to 70 GWh. The Provence wind farm will offer 17 wind turbines and an annual output of 100 GWh of green electricity. ewz is confident that the wind farms will be built, as they are among the best wind farm projects in Switzerland.
The City Council and ewz have been working with credit facilities since 2003. In the face of major competition and challenging conditions for establishing wind power plants, short decision-making paths are a must. If every single wind turbine is subject to a City Parliament vote or a referendum, the planned scope will never become reality. Credit facilities enable the City Council to offer the required flexibility and confidentiality when it comes to carrying out transactions. These credit facilities shorten decision-making paths considerably, because the City Council has the authority to decide on individual projects regardless of the amount of the credit request.
