The Swiss government increased its drive to push the nation toward more renewable energy on Thursday, proposing to sweeten incentives for solar panel installation and speed licenses for new hydropower and wind power projects, Reuters reports.
With the majority of Switzerland’s hydroelectric growth potential already used, the government is focusing on increasing wind and solar energy to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
However, initiatives to reduce emissions have been thwarted at the ballot box, and new wind and renewable energy parks have been met with resistance, resulting in lengthy wait periods and the need to scale down projects.
Now, the government has suggested identifying strategic locations for wind and hydropower projects around the nation and expediting their clearance in an effort to finish projects more rapidly while aligning them with concerns for nature and the surrounding environment.
To reach renewable energy objectives, “adjustments to the planning and approval processes for building new facilities as well as expanding and converting existing plants are required,” the government stated in a statement. “Today, they are just too time-consuming.”
The administration emphasized that large wind and hydropower projects may take more than two decades to complete, which is much too lengthy given the government’s goal of halving emissions by 2030.
Switzerland wants to enhance energy production from renewables and hydro power while phasing out nuclear energy under the government’s “Energy Strategy 2050,” aiming for an extra 2 terawatts of cleaner electricity output by 2040.
According to the new ideas, the government’s centralized plan would serve as a guideline for local governments’ planning and permits, which would be merged into a single procedure, while also removing the possibility of several legal challenges.
The administration also said that it wished to promote solar power by making photovoltaic system investments tax deductible for both repairs and new buildings, as well as streamlining the approval procedure for solar panels to be put not just on roofs but also on facades.
The proposed legislation has been made available for public comment until May 23.