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Switzerland plans incredibly attractive feed-in-tariffs for geothermal power

Switzerland plans incredibly attractive feed-in-tariffs for geothermal power Scherzligen, Thun, Canton of Berne (Source: flickr/ Alex Sinclair, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 8 Feb 2017

Switzerland has just announced the likely most attractive feed-in-tariffs for geothermal power produced of up to $0.479/ kWh.

Switzerland has just announced the likely most attractive feed-in-tariffs for geothermal power produced.

The new feed-in-tariffs are set at CHF 0.475/ kWh ($0.479/ kWh) for electricity from petrothermal geothermal production. The draft law still has to go through a popular vote, and if the vote is positive, the new law could enter into force in 2018.

On its website, the Swiss Geothermal Energy Association reports that the Swiss Federal Council has also issued regulations on the new energy legislation and the new CO2 law as part of the energy strategy 2050 for public consultation. This process will last until 8 May 2017.

After hydrothermal geothermal energy has already received a maximum of CHF 0.407 kWh ($ 0.41/ kWh), an increase of CHF 0.072/ kWh ($0.057/ kWh) for petrothermal energy. For hydrothermal geothermal energy, the output depends on the size of a power plant, set at a maximum of CHF0.472/ kWh ($0.467/ kWh) for plants with an installed capacity below 5 MW.

Other regulations include exploration for geothermal heat projects, EUR 30 million ($32.3 million) were provided and up to 60 percent of the eligible costs could be covered. The exploration of electricity projects can also be supported by up to 60 percent. 60% of the costs can be covered for non-drilling.

The applications are to be submitted to the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, which appraises the applications with an expert committee. In the case of a positive result, the expert committee recommends a specialist as a project supervisor to report to the committee.

The data collected as part of these projects are to be made available to swisstopo, which will be partially published after a period of protection. In addition, the Confederation also reserves the right to withdraw funding in the case of excessive profits.

With this comprehensive program, Switzerland is demonstrating its interest in the use of deep geothermal energy, both for electricity and heating projects, hydrothermal and petrothermal. The federal government is also pushing ahead for the expansion of geothermal energy, since the program only runs until 2023. Details on geothermal energy promotion in Switzerland can be found on the website of Geothermal Energy Switzerland .

The article was translated from our partner site TiefeGeothermie in Germany.

Source:  Geothermie Schweiz via TiefeGeothermie