Swiss Review / February 2022 / No.1 6 Focus JÜRG STEINER Are the planks under foot shaking in the stiff breeze, or is itmountains that are moving? You are never quite sure which of the two it is on the Triftbrücke – thewindy suspension bridge in the Bernese Oberland that spans themouth of the green Triftsee glacial lake at a dizzying height of 100metres. The Triftbrücke is situated in a side valley above Innertkirchen (canton of Berne), 1,700metres above sea level in one of Switzerland’s most tranquil Alpine areas. Anyone with the nerve to stand halfway along the 170-metre-long pedestrian bridge will see a ruggedwater-soakedmountain basin, at one end of which hangs the remainder of a once-mighty glacier high above. It is a thought-provoking place, because this natural amphitheatre epitomises the controversy surrounding hydropower. Rapid transition from glacier to lake The TriftGlacier, which used to fill the entire basin, receded all of a sudden due to climate change, leading to the formation of the Triftsee lake. Because hikers were no longer able to use the glacier to access the Trifthütte (a mountain hut belonging to the Swiss Alpine Club), the aforementioned suspension bridge was built in 2005. However, the retreating glacier also left behind a unique, pristine mountain landscape. The Triftsee is attracting considerThis has opened up a can of worms. KWO plans to produce zero-carbon energy – the type of power needed to cut greenhouse gas emissions. But it would have to desecrate virginmountain terrain in the process. A small, dogged group of conservationists has raised objections to impede the project, albeit in the knowledge that Switzerland has high-emission gas-fired power plants on stand-by to cover any gaps in power supply – which, in turn, is counter-intuitive to the aimof combating climate change. There appears to be no way out of this conundrum. Hydropower, once the clean-energymainstay of Switzerland’s self-styled “reservoir of Europe”, is having to fight for its green credentials. How has it come to this? Driving the economic boom Switzerland lacks its own natural coal, so hydropower has always been the major energy staple. Yet hydroelectricity only really came into its own in Switzerland during the economic boom of the post-war years. Enormous dams sprang up in the Alps, providing a stable electricity supply that underpinned economic growth. Thanks to audacious feats of civil engineering in remote corners of the Alps, Switzerland achieved a certain degree of energy independence. Indeed, hydropower accounted for around 90 per cent of Swiss energy in 1970, before the first nuclear Hydropower has lost its clean image Hydropower has traditionally been the cornerstone of Swiss electricity. Logically, it should be underpinning the country’s switch from nuclear and fossil fuels. However, it first needs to deal with the damage to its reputation in recent decades. able interest. Local hydropower company Kraftwerke Oberhasli (KWO) would like to use the young body of water to create a reservoir with a 177-metre-high dam that would supply electricity to around 30,000 households. Will Switzerland run out of electricity? Will Switzerland have sufficient and uninterrupted power supplies in future? This question is on many people’s lips. Continued growth in electricity demand seems inevitable, with energy group Axpo predicting a 30 per cent rise by 2050. Conceivably, the switch from nuclear and fossil fuels could drive this growth. Using heat pumps instead of oil-fired boilers to heat buildings, or driving electric instead of petrol cars – this means lower CO2 emissions but greater electricity consumption. It is hard to gauge the extent to which efficiency gains and behavioural changes can curb demand. According to a new study by the Federal Office of Energy, Switzerland could experience brief winter power outages from 2025 onwards due to electricity demand outstripping supply. The Federal Council has exacerbated the situation with its decision to abandon talks with the EU on a framework agreement. Consequently, the EU refuses to conclude the electricity agreement that it has already negotiated with Switzerland. As it currently stands, Switzerland will find it harder to obtain emergency supplies from the European grid as a result.
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