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Swiss parliament requests government to actively support geothermal activities

Swiss parliament requests government to actively support geothermal activities Bundesplatz (Parliament Square), Bern, Switzerland (source: flickr/ ptwo, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 16 Mar 2012

The Swiss parliament overwhelmingly requests the Swiss federal government to support geothermal energy development in Switzerland through drilling finance, pilot project support and a better investment framework.

The Swiss national parliament as well as the council of the Swiss states has urged the Swiss government (Federal Council) to create a better framework, and particularly start a drilling campaign.

The government is now required to provide a proposal to the parliament on how it expects to support better investment conditions for geothermal power projects in the country. The government will do so unwillingly as it would have preferred to work on the topic as part of its energy strategy 2050. The strategy is to draw up the future for Switzerland after the country decided to abolish nuclear power production.

The Head of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications in Switzerland Doris Leuthard was warning the parliament on the expected costs of a motion of this kind, but did so unsuccessfully.

The motions put forward in parliament ask for a geothermal task force and a public acceptance campaign.

Furthermore pilot projects should be able to receive start-up financing that is to be paid back, while all permitting procedures should be aligned and be made quicker. The federal state is also asked to participate in R&D and pilot projects.

Financially the second motion put forward in parliament will have a larger impact, as it asks for a country-wide exploration program to be organized and financed. The motions are seen as supporting an energy form with great potential for power generation, providing cost-competitive and base-load power all year round.

The government sees the request for drilling financing as challenging, as no-one knows how this can be covered from the federal budget.

Based on the experiences of projects in the cities of St. Gallen and  Zürich, the minister expects costs of up to CHF 1 billion (~$1 billion)

The decision by the Swiss parliament was quite clear, as it voted with a majority of about 75% for the motion to support the geothermal ambitions of the country.

Source: Swiss news (translated and adapted)