The country is in negotiations with Germany and Italy to guarantee its gas supply next winter.
The energy situation isgravefor Switzerland, which is negotiating with Germany and Italy to guarantee its gas supply next winter, in the face of the fall in Russian deliveries, the Swiss Minister of Energy said on Sunday. “Why do we have a problem today? Because Russia has closed the gas tap and Switzerland is entirely dependent on foreign countries for this type of energy“, said Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga, in an interview with the newspaper Blick. «The situation is serious. The Federal Council (government’s editor’s note) is aware of this – and not only since the war in Ukraine“, she added.
Switzerland has not yet set any targets in terms of energy savings, unlike the EU which intends to reduce its gas consumption by 15% to overcome the drop in Russian deliveries, due to tensions linked to the war in Ukraine. Simonetta Sommaruga judges that this “would certainly be wisethat Switzerland is setting itself such objectives, and indicates that a campaign will be launched in the coming weeks to encourage people to reduce energy consumption.
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Almost 80% of Switzerland’s energy supply depends on imports of combustibles and fossil fuels as well as nuclear fuels, according to the Federal Office of Energy. Even the electricity supply cannot do without imports, at least during the winter months.
“Solidarity” agreements in negotiation
Switzerland, which does not have significant storage capacities, is counting on neighboring countries to have gas next winter. It is in the process of negotiating agreements known assolidaritywith Germany and Italy which have toughened their gas export laws. “Negotiations are ongoing. But such an agreement would only come about if there was already a shortage. The most important thing for the Federal Council, however, is to avoid such a situation as much as possible. This is why the branch is encouraged to obtain additional gas“said Simonetta Sommaruga.
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According to the Sunday newspaper SonntagsZeitung, as the gas pipeline linking Germany to Italy crosses Switzerland, the latter would have threatened to divert for itself part of the gas intended for Italy, which is permitted by a clause in the contract in the event of a crisis. A threat that causes tensions with Rome, explains the newspaper, citing well-informed sources. “In this situation, each country considers the most diverse scenarios, including extreme scenarios“, said in the newspaper a spokeswoman for the Minister of Energy.
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