Swiss Energy Program - BESS Energy Storage Switzerland

TECHNOLOGY

Net Zero 2050 target

Switzerland has set itself the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, promoting the development of sustainable energy infrastructure. Reaching this goal will require integrating renewable energies such as solar and wind efficiently and in ever greater volumes.

Unfortunately, these clean energy sources are intermittent and non-dispatchable, which is why storage systems are needed to capture this energy and deploy it effectively when required, ensuring the stability of the distribution grid.

THE LAW

approved by 59.1%
of voters: climate
neutrality by 2050.

ZERO RISK

Swiss Energy Program invests,
builds and operates.
ZERO RISK for the landowner.

7 SITES
COMING SOON

Suitable land is not unlimited.
Those who act now are pioneers.

GRID EVOLUTION

The heartbeat of the
Swiss power system.

The power grid only works well when generation and consumption remain almost perfectly balanced at every instant. The reference value for the Swiss and European grid is 50 hertz — what might be called the "heartbeat" of the power system.

This "heartbeat" is regulated on three levels:

Primary:	responds automatically within seconds to frequency deviations.
Secondary:	also responds automatically, but is controlled by Swissgrid through dispatch orders.
Tertiary:	activated by grid operators, who ask specific plants to increase or decrease their output.

For many years, before the advent of renewables, regulating the Swiss grid was, all in all, simpler than it is today. The reason is straightforward: the system relied mainly on dispatchable generation — power plants whose output could be planned and adjusted with good precision. In Switzerland this role was played above all by hydropower, which together with other controllable sources remains a backbone of the system today.

With the arrival of solar PV and wind, the system has become cleaner — but also harder to manage. Sun and wind cannot be commanded: output can rise or fall rapidly, regardless of what the operator wants and independently of consumption.

This is the real shift: whereas most generation used to be concentrated in large, controllable plants, a growing share now comes from many facilities distributed across the country. This makes the grid more modern, but also more nervous and harder to regulate.

And this is where BESS (Battery Energy Storage Systems) come into play.
Bottom line: they are large batteries that can absorb energy when there is too much of it and release it when there is too little. This makes them invaluable in a grid with a lot of variable renewable energy. Their main advantage is speed: a well-integrated battery can react far faster than many traditional technologies, and with great precision. Batteries can also work in both directions, taking energy off the grid when there is a surplus or feeding it in when there is a shortfall. This dual capability is a perfect match for the variability of solar and wind.

TECNOLOGY

How our system works.

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) store the surplus energy generated from renewables during peak production hours — such as sunny or windy days — and release it at times of peak demand. In this way they balance supply and demand, stabilize the power grid and reduce reliance on fossil-fuel plants, improving efficiency and continuity of service.

The impact of a single 5 MW / 10 MWh BESS

Estimated annual reduction in CO2 equivalent

0

Tonnes of CO2
avoided per year

0

Cars taken
off the road

0

Equivalent trees
planted

THE GREEN EVOLUTION IS ALREADY UNDERWAY.

National expansion under way.

Up to 100 BESS facilities are planned
across Switzerland by 2028.

MANNO

Infrastructure investor and developer

With over 40 years of experience in developing and managing complex assets,
Tarchini Group operates as a long-term infrastructure investor and developer.

PROGRAM PARTNERS

GIG Europe SA

IngEne SA

Swiss Solar Group