{"id":110803,"date":"2025-11-12T02:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T01:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=110803"},"modified":"2025-11-11T13:11:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:11:43","slug":"how-electric-cars-and-heat-pumps-can-help-switzerland-implement-its-energy-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/energy\/how-electric-cars-and-heat-pumps-can-help-switzerland-implement-its-energy-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"How electric cars and heat pumps can help Switzerland implement its Energy Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In future, flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars could reduce both electricity imports and electricity prices. That is according to a new study by a Swiss research consortium led by ETH Zurich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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With the help of flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars, Switzerland could use around 4\u202fpercent more renewable electricity with the same installed capacity\u00a0in 2050.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Controlled in line with grid utilisation, this flexibility could reduce annual net electricity imports by around 20\u202fpercent compared to an energy system without flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars. Imports would also be lower in the winter months.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars could delay and reduce the need for expensive\u00a0distribution grid\u00a0reinforcements.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Electric cars and heat pumps could play a major role when it comes to implementing the Swiss Energy Strategy. The Federal Council is aiming for Switzerland\u2019s energy supply to be carbon-neutral by 2050. The plan is for heat pumps to replace oil and gas-fired heating systems and for electric cars to gradually replace combustion vehicles. This will result in a significant increase in demand for electricity \u2013 from around 56\u202fterawatt-hours (TWh) a year today to around 75\u202fTWh a year by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new report by the Swiss \u201cPATHFNDR\u201d research consortium, which is funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy as part of the \u201cSWEET\u201d programme, has now shown that, alongside hydropower, heat pumps and electric cars could be key providers of flexibility for the Swiss power system in 2050. Christian Schaffner, Director of the Energy Science Center at ETH Zurich and Deputy Director of the project, explains: \u201cThe two technologies serve to better coordinate rising electricity consumption with electricity production from renewable energy sources. This relieves the burden on the power grid, reduces imports and brings down wholesale electricity prices \u2013 particularly in the winter months.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only consume if the grid is not at full capacity<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
This flexibility is apparent on an everyday basis. For example, at outdoor temperatures of 0\u00b0C, intelligently controlled heat pumps can switch off for up to ten hours in buildings meeting the Minergie standard without a noticeable drop in room temperature. This helps to avoid having too many heat pumps running at the same time and overloading the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electric cars, too, are often connected to the grid for much longer than is necessary for a full charge \u2013 for example if they are plugged in to charge in the garage at the end of the working day. This allows for an optimum charging pattern that is in line with electricity supply. The study claims that the best thing would be to charge the car at work: \u201cDuring the day, when the sun is shining, many vehicles are parked anyway. Charging them there would make optimum use of photovoltaic production,\u201d explains Siobhan Powell, an energy researcher at ETH Zurich and one of the main authors of the study. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
More electricity, less electricity imports<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
By 2050, Switzerland wants to cover 50 to 60\u202fpercent of its electricity demand (45\u202fTWh per year) with new renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics, wind energy or biomass. The researchers\u2019 model calculations now show that this target will be easier to reach thanks to the flexible power consumption of heat pumps and electric vehicles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If heat pumps and electric cars are coordinated and controlled flexibly on a nationwide basis, around 4\u202fpercent more renewable electricity could be available in Switzerland in 2050. \u201cMost of this is solar power in spring and summer, which would be utilised more efficiently so that it does not need to be curtailed,\u201d explains Powell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, flexible heat pumps and electric cars could reduce net electricity imports by around 20\u202fpercent across the whole year, particularly due to higher net exports in spring and summer. \u201cThese amount to some 1.8\u202fTWh of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of around 0.5\u202fmillion Swiss households,\u201d says Powell. According to the study, Switzerland\u2019s electricity imports would also be reduced by around 0.7\u202fTWh in the winter months. That corresponds to a 4.4\u202fpercent reduction in net imports in winter compared to an energy system without flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cheaper electricity and fewer gas power stations <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the study shows that wholesale electricity prices could also be lower due to a more even distribution of supply and demand with the help of flexible heat pumps and electric cars. This reduction in electricity prices is greatest in the winter months of January to March, when wholesale prices could be reduced by up to 6\u202fpercent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers also estimate that an electricity system supported by flexible heat pumps and electric cars could be operated with around 4\u202fpercent lower costs than a system without these two flexibility providers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, the use of flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars would also mean the construction of fewer gas power stations and battery storage systems by 2050. Estimates show that the necessary investment in gas power stations and batteries would fall by around a third. \u201cAbove all, gas power stations and batteries are necessary to compensate for peaks in electricity demand. If electric vehicles and heat pumps take over this function, we\u2019ll need fewer of them,\u201d explains Powell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lower peak loads in neighbourhoods and reduced grid expansion<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
If a large number of households are charging their cars or running their heat pumps at the same time, there is a risk of bottlenecks in the distribution grid. Many of today\u2019s power cables and transformers are not designed for these loads and would need to be reinforced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers analysed around 50 grid areas in Switzerland and concluded that flexibly operated heat pumps and electric cars would reduce peak loads in neighbourhoods and could therefore delay and reduce the need for expensive reinforcement work on distribution grids. The actual size of these effects also depends on whether the areas in question are urban or rural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electricity tariffs that reward citizens<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
So that electrical vehicles and heat pumps can actually act as flexibility providers by 2050, they must be equipped with the necessary control and communication technology. At present, this is not the case across the board. The authors of the study therefore recommend that further systems only be subsidised if they allow flexible and intelligent operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the operators of electric vehicles and heat pumps should be incentivised to change their heating and charging behaviour. To this end, the study recommends measures including dynamic electricity tariffs that reward flexible charging and heating. However, significant local differences in tariffs and feed-in payments would hinder this measure\u2019s implementation in Switzerland, states the study. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The researchers also point out that the promotional instruments in Switzerland are very heterogeneous and that there is, as yet, no national \u201cright to charge\u201d for tenants with electric vehicles \u2013 something they say ought to be resolved quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n