by Armando Mombelli, swissinfo.ch

Many European countries are turning away from atomic power to focus on renewable energies. Switzerland’s water reservoirs could make up for future gaps in supply.

Snowy mountains, glaciers, streams and torrents tumbling down into the valleys, rivers that irrigate the soil of Europe: the Swiss Alps have always been one of the continent’s most important sources of water.

In the not-too-distant future they may also serve as an energy source, able to store electricity and distribute it to other European countries at times of peak demand.

How to stockpile electric power is going to be one of the principal problems to be solved in the coming decades.

To combat climate change, the member states of the EU have adopted some ambitious objectives: by 2020 renewable energies are to provide 20 per cent of the total energy consumed and to meet 33 per cent of the demand for electricity. This quota is intended to increase considerably by 2050, not least because several European countries have decided to give up their reliance on atomic energy.

Giving up nuclear power and reducing consumption of fossil fuels would leave a gap that could be filled by wind and solar energy. These are two clean energy sources, but they are somewhat irregular and unpredictable. How can you guarantee electricity supply at times when there is no sun or wind?

Large reserves of electricity

“Thanks to its central position and its flexible production capacity for hydropower, Switzerland can play an important role in electricity supply for the consumers of the EU, when the wind isn’t blowing in the north of Europe and the sun isn’t shining in the south”, as European Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger pointed out last year.

read more here:

The Zervreilasee near Vals in the Canton of Grisons (Keystone