Switzerland liberalises its electricity market and actively promotes the production of energy from renewable sources. The target is ambitious but achievable: by the year 2030 renewable energy production shall cover at least 10 % more of the total Swiss consumption. The main mechanisms are new feed-in tariffs - similar to the German approach.

In the first draft of the legislation, hydropower was excluded from tariff support, and the promotion was only foreseen for newly built power plants. Thanks to the Swiss Small Hydro Power Association (www.iskb.ch) a full integration of hydropower was obtained, and coverage now also includes newly upgraded and refurbished power plants. The annual budget is 160 million Swiss Francs (ca. 100 million Euro). The Federal Government will publish the amended Energy Ordinance with detailed tariffs for each energy resource, grouped by size and type of installation. The task of tariff setting is crucial: if set too low they will not provide enough incentive for investors, if set too high the budget will be quickly expended due to windfall effects. It should be remembered that hydropower generation costs vary from EUR 0.04/kWh for large high head plants to more than EUR 0.30/kWh for low head "Pico"-hydro. If a sensible tariff structure is put in place, small hydropower will grow by as much as 50 %! This regulation replaces the famous "15-Rp.-Rule" (10 ct.), which started in 1992 the boom in independent producer plants. Accordingly existing feed-in contracts remain protected for hydropower until 2035.

An example of good prospects of SHP in Switzerland can be seen in the turbining of water networks. Indeed, in Switzerland the communes and associations implicated in water distribution are more and more interested in making their networks energy efficient, whether they are for potable, clean, used, or for irrigation water. For example, in 2006, the hydropower station in Louve, Lausanne, began service. It turbines the clean waters which, before the works of placing it under independent management, was in the used–water network of the town and passed by the purifying station before diving into Léman lake. Composed of a 2 injector Pelton turbine, this realisation of a 170kW electric power has a positive two-fold impact on the environment: green electricity production and increase in the efficiency of the purifying station. By the end of 2006, 21 of the 38 turbines in operation built according to MHyLab’s hydro profile have been installed in networks. Moreover, many promising feasibility studies are occurring in Small Hydropower in Switzerland.

This text is copied from the July newsletter of the European Small Hydro Association (ESHA).