Summary

Green Liberal Party chief and Swissolar president Jürg Grossen contradicts the interpretation that high winter electricity imports in 2025/26 prove the failure of the energy transition. Instead, he sees structural progress through massive expansion of renewable energy, particularly photovoltaics. Grossen argues that new nuclear power plants would not be economically competitive by 2050, and Switzerland can secure electricity supply with optimized hydropower, wind, and solar energy – without significant imports.

People

Topics

  • Energy transition and electricity supply
  • Renewable energy vs. nuclear power
  • Winter electricity imports and supply security
  • Solar energy and photovoltaic expansion
  • EU electricity agreement

Clarus Lead

Switzerland imported almost as much electricity in winter 2025/26 as during the crisis winter of 2021/22 – yet the Green Liberal Party chief sees no indicator of energy transition failure in this. Grossen emphasizes that import dependency will decrease in the medium term, and extraordinary factors such as drought and shutdowns of individual nuclear power plants explain temporary peaks. The central thesis: With systematic expansion of renewable energy – particularly photovoltaics – nuclear power will lose importance, and new reactors will become economically unviable by 2050.

Detailed Summary

Grossen evaluates current winter imports in the context of long-term trends: In winter 2023/24, Switzerland even recorded an export surplus, the 2024/25 balance was nearly neutral. High imports result from extraordinary factors – minimal precipitation affecting hydropower and the shutdown of the Gösgen nuclear power plant as a concentration risk. While Switzerland thus misses the target of the new electricity law (maximum 5 TWh winter imports), Grossen sees this not as a structural weakness but as an exceptional situation.

Regarding geopolitical risk perception, Grossen argues that the greatest dependency lies in fossil fuels (68 percent of total energy). This decreases dramatically through heat pumps and e-mobility. Switzerland, as part of the European electricity system, benefits from import capability – a sign of efficiency, not weakness. What matters is not temporary import dependency, but the availability of sufficient capacity year-round.

Grossen's core argument against new nuclear power plants: By 2050, there will be so much renewable energy in the system that new reactors would hardly be economically viable. Solar energy already supplies winter electricity on the scale of an entire nuclear power plant. Grossen relies on a combination of optimized hydropower, 16 hydropower projects from the roundtable, and solar expansion – supplemented by reserve power plants with synthetic fuels for failure scenarios. Despite 1.5 million more residents, 500,000 heat pumps, and 250,000 electric cars, electricity consumption remains stable – efficiency gains are working.

Key Points

  • Winter imports are not a structural problem, but rather the consequence of extraordinary factors (drought, nuclear plant shutdowns)
  • New nuclear power plants economically unviable by 2050 due to massive renewable energy expansion
  • Photovoltaics already supply winter electricity equivalents of one reactor; 14 percent of electricity consumption today is solar
  • Combination of hydropower, wind, and solar enables supply security without significant imports
  • Solar energy is the most cost-effective energy source (15 percent subsidy vs. 60 percent for nuclear)
  • Technological breakthrough in nuclear energy unrealistic – innovative reactor types require decades
  • Dynamic electricity prices and intelligent storage reduce grid strain from solar peaks
  • Market-oriented pricing models are key to grid security, not grid expansion alone

Additional Reports

  • EU Electricity Agreement and Minimum Remuneration: Grossen sees no danger to Swiss solar subsidies in the planned EU agreement, but insists on dynamic electricity prices and better network operator forecasts before abandoning minimum remuneration
  • Decline in Solar Installations 2025: Temporary market correction, not end of boom; Blackout Initiative could endanger expansion momentum
  • Network Costs from PV Variability: Intelligent control, local electricity cooperatives, and battery storage can reduce exponentially rising balancing costs

Critical Questions

  1. Evidence & Data Quality: Grossen's claim that photovoltaics already supply "winter electricity on the scale of a nuclear power plant" – what specific data (GWh/month) supports this, and how is volatility accounted for?

  2. Conflicts of Interest: As president of Swissolar and simultaneously Green Liberal politician – how transparent is the boundary between industry interests and energy policy positions, particularly in criticism of nuclear power subsidies?

  3. Causality & Counterarguments: Grossen attributes winter imports to drought and Gösgen shutdown. Are these isolated factors sufficient for explanation, or do structural hydropower deficits and storage problems indicate systemic limitations?

  4. Feasibility of 16 Hydropower Projects: Grossen relies heavily on their realization by 2050. What is the previous approval success rate, and what environmental costs are factored in?

  5. Realistic Technology Development: Why are lengthy development cycles for "Small Modular Reactors" an exclusion criterion, yet optimistic assumptions about storage, smart grid, and hydropower technologies remain acceptable?

  6. Price Dynamics and Political Implementation: According to Grossen, the solution for grid stability lies in dynamic electricity prices. How realistic is their political implementation against resistance from network operators and consumers?

  7. Import Dependency Under Climate Stress: Grossen argues for more winter water through climate warming. Does this apply to all relevant catchment areas, or is there risk of regional droughts?

  8. Blackout Initiative and Signal Effect: How concretely does the mentioned initiative affect investments, and are threatened cancellations feasible without legal consequences?

Source List

Primary Source: «Jürg Grossen: Mit dem Ausbau der Erneuerbaren wird die Kernkraft an Bedeutung verlieren» – https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/juerg-grossen-mit-dem-ausbau-der-erneuerbaren-wird-die-kernkraft-an-bedeutung-verlieren-ld.1927433 (NZZ, 07.03.2026)

Verification Status: ✓ 07.03.2026

This text was created with support of an AI model. Editorial Responsibility: clarus.news | Fact-Check: 07.03.2026