As a small country in the middle of Europe, Switzerland's energy policy is aligned with that of its neighbours. Switzerland is part of the western European power grid. In the summer it is able to export electricity, but in winter it generally has to import it. In 2005 for the first time it imported more than it exported.

Energy policy

The two main planks of Swiss energy policy are to promote the use of renewable resources and to encourage efficiency.

The government sees this as particularly important in the face of the upcoming liberalisation of the European energy market, which Switzerland cannot avoid. Greater competition is likely to bring down the prices of fossil fuels. This would boost their use yet further, which would have a detrimental effect on the environment, undermining Switzerland's determination to cut its CO2 emissions by 2010 to 90% of its 1990 level.

Consumption

Switzerland's per capita electricity consumption is slightly higher than that of its neighbours, though well below that in Scandinavia, the US and Canada.

However, it is worth remembering that in many countries a significant proportion of the electricity used is consumed by large industrial plants, which Switzerland does not have. If it were unable to import goods produced by such plants and had to make them itself, its per capita consumption would be higher.

Sources

Switzerland, like most other countries, obtains its electric power from a number of different sources.