Saint-Imier: Switzerland’s largest wind farm, sitting on the French border at the foot of the Jura Mountains, consists of just 16 turbines – small compared to other European countries.
The wealthy Alpine country says it wants to speed up the development of renewable energy sources as it tries to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
The authorities want to use the new climate law approved last year to increase the contribution of wind and solar energy to Switzerland’s energy mix.
But the plan may be premature: the bill could face opposition in a national referendum on Sunday, preventing implementation next January.
While most environmental organizations support the law and the ambition, a small group has received enough signatures to hold a referendum on Switzerland’s direct democracy system, which would speed up large-scale energy projects and cause “unnecessary landscape damage”.
Switzerland’s largest party, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), also warned that implementing the law would threaten Switzerland’s energy security.
“We cannot guarantee the security of renewable energy supply above the Ural Mountains,” SVP MP Ivan Pahud told AFP.
SVP favors nuclear power.
