Electricity prices in Switzerland 2024

Switzerland's electricity sector is built on hydropower (~57% of generation) and four nuclear reactors (~30%) — both legacy assets from the 1960s–80s. Swissgrid, the federal TSO, operates a single bidding zone synchronously coupled with the Continental European grid but outside the EU's internal electricity market. The country's north–south HVDC links to Italy and France act as Europe's single largest cross-border arbitrage corridor: Switzerland imports cheap French nuclear in winter and exports peak-priced summer hydro southward.

Solar PV has accelerated post-2022 with a 13.4 GW target by 2035, and the alpine pumped-storage fleet (Linth-Limmern, Nant-de-Drance) now provides over 4 GW of flexibility. The 2017 referendum committed Switzerland to phasing out nuclear without a fixed deadline; reactors run as long as the safety regulator certifies them — Beznau-1, the world's oldest operating reactor, still produces electricity at 56 years old.