Switzerland 155
ownership and operational control would be preferable to the Swiss people.
Second, as long as there is no forum to resolve the diverging interpretations of
ES2050 among local, cantonal, and national stakeholders, we can expect conflicts and delays.
The risks we examined were of a political, technical, and economic nature.
The political risks were mostly barriers to implementing one of the pathways,
and the technical and economic risks were mostly about the consequences of
these pathways. This follows a pattern we have observed in general in the literature about the Swiss energy transition.
The most pressing risk seems to be delay or outright failure to obtain permits,
and more generally how to plan and build energy infrastructure without provoking opposition and legal challenges from nearby residents. This has been done
successfully in Switzerland, for example for the Linth–Limmern pumped storage
plant and its connection to the grid, where residents raised no objections. It
would be worthwhile to investigate successful processes for energy infrastructure
and determine how these can be mainstreamed.
Note
1 The EP2050 was written by Prognos AG, the consultancy firm that also wrote Energiekonzept 2050, a similar document, for the German government.
References
Alriksson, S., Öberg, T. (2008). Conjoint analysis for environmental evaluation. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 15(3), 244–257. doi: 10.1065/espr2008.02.479.
BfE (2013). Energieperspektiven 2050. Bern. Available at: www.bfe.admin.ch/themen/
00526/00527/06431/index.html?lang=de.
BfE (2016). Gesamtenergiestatistik 2015 Tabellen. Bern. Available at: www.bfe.admin.ch/
dokumentation/publikationen/index.html?start=0&lang=en&marker_suche=1&ps_
text=Gesamtenergiestatistik&ps_nr=&ps_date_day=Tag&ps_date_month=Monat&ps_
date_year=2012&ps_autor=&ps_date2_day=Tag&ps_date2_month=Monat&ps_date2_
year=Jahr&ps.
Der Bundesrat (2017). Energiegesetz (EnG). Available at: www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/
dokumentation/abstimmungen/20170521/Energiegesetz.html.
Cludius, J., Hermann, H., Matthes, F.C., Graichen, V. (2014). The merit order effect
of wind and photovoltaic electricity generation in Germany 2008–2016: Estimation
and distributional implications. Energy Economics 44, 302–313. doi: 10.1016/j.
eneco.2014.04.020.
Compagnon, R. (2004). Solar and daylight availability in the urban fabric. Energy and
Buildings 36(4), 321–328. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2004.01.009.
Díaz Redondo, P., van Vliet, O.P.R. (2018). Drivers and risks for renewable energy
developments in mountain regions. A case of a pilot photovoltaic project in the Swiss
Alps. Energy, Sustainability and Society 8(28). doi: 10.1186/s13705-018-0168-x.
Díaz Redondo, P., Adler, C., Patt, A. (2017). Do stakeholders’ perspectives on renewable
energy infrastructure pose a risk to energy policy implementation? A case of a hydropower plant in Switzerland. Energy Policy 108, 21–28. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.033.
ownership and operational control would be preferable to the Swiss people.
Second, as long as there is no forum to resolve the diverging interpretations of
ES2050 among local, cantonal, and national stakeholders, we can expect conflicts and delays.
The risks we examined were of a political, technical, and economic nature.
The political risks were mostly barriers to implementing one of the pathways,
and the technical and economic risks were mostly about the consequences of
these pathways. This follows a pattern we have observed in general in the literature about the Swiss energy transition.
The most pressing risk seems to be delay or outright failure to obtain permits,
and more generally how to plan and build energy infrastructure without provoking opposition and legal challenges from nearby residents. This has been done
successfully in Switzerland, for example for the Linth–Limmern pumped storage
plant and its connection to the grid, where residents raised no objections. It
would be worthwhile to investigate successful processes for energy infrastructure
and determine how these can be mainstreamed.
Note
1 The EP2050 was written by Prognos AG, the consultancy firm that also wrote Energiekonzept 2050, a similar document, for the German government.
References
Alriksson, S., Öberg, T. (2008). Conjoint analysis for environmental evaluation. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 15(3), 244–257. doi: 10.1065/espr2008.02.479.
BfE (2013). Energieperspektiven 2050. Bern. Available at: www.bfe.admin.ch/themen/
00526/00527/06431/index.html?lang=de.
BfE (2016). Gesamtenergiestatistik 2015 Tabellen. Bern. Available at: www.bfe.admin.ch/
dokumentation/publikationen/index.html?start=0&lang=en&marker_suche=1&ps_
text=Gesamtenergiestatistik&ps_nr=&ps_date_day=Tag&ps_date_month=Monat&ps_
date_year=2012&ps_autor=&ps_date2_day=Tag&ps_date2_month=Monat&ps_date2_
year=Jahr&ps.
Der Bundesrat (2017). Energiegesetz (EnG). Available at: www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/
dokumentation/abstimmungen/20170521/Energiegesetz.html.
Cludius, J., Hermann, H., Matthes, F.C., Graichen, V. (2014). The merit order effect
of wind and photovoltaic electricity generation in Germany 2008–2016: Estimation
and distributional implications. Energy Economics 44, 302–313. doi: 10.1016/j.
eneco.2014.04.020.
Compagnon, R. (2004). Solar and daylight availability in the urban fabric. Energy and
Buildings 36(4), 321–328. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2004.01.009.
Díaz Redondo, P., van Vliet, O.P.R. (2018). Drivers and risks for renewable energy
developments in mountain regions. A case of a pilot photovoltaic project in the Swiss
Alps. Energy, Sustainability and Society 8(28). doi: 10.1186/s13705-018-0168-x.
Díaz Redondo, P., Adler, C., Patt, A. (2017). Do stakeholders’ perspectives on renewable
energy infrastructure pose a risk to energy policy implementation? A case of a hydropower plant in Switzerland. Energy Policy 108, 21–28. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.033.