The Energy Regulation and Markets Review - Stikeman Elliott

Switzerland
requirements of the Nuclear Energy Act and the International Convention on Nuclear
Safety that regulators should be independent bodies.
ENSI is supervised by an independent board who is elected by the Federal
Council and reports directly to it. It is responsible for the supervision of nuclear facilities.
Its regulatory remit covers the entire life of a facility, from initial planning, through
operation to final decommissioning including the disposal of radioactive waste. Its
remit also includes the safety of staff and the public and their protection from radiation,
sabotage and terrorism. ENSI is also involved in the transport of radioactive materials to
and from nuclear facilities and in the continuing geoscientific investigations to identify a
suitable location for the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste. 10
III
ENERGY MARKETS
i Partial liberalisation
The Swiss electricity market has been partially liberalised since 1 January 2009. Only
larger consumers with an annual consumption of more than 100MWh, representing
more or less 50 per cent of the electricity demand in Switzerland, have so far benefited
from the market opening.
The separation of the transmission network is one of the key criteria in the
liberalisation of Switzerland’s electricity market. This concerns the network of highvoltage
transmission lines for transporting electricity over great distances. The aim here
is that ownership and operation of this network (monopoly) are to be separated from
other business activities such as electricity production and trading (market).
In practical terms, this means that companies which have held stakes in the
transmission network until now are required to assign these to the national transmission
system operator (Swissgrid). This process is to take place in three stages:
a separation of the accounts of the network owner/operator from other activities
(already implemented);
b legal separation, for example outsourcing of the network to a separate subsidiary
(was to be effected by no later than 1 January 2009); and
c transfer of network ownership to Swissgrid (to be effected by no later than 1
January 2013).
Swissgrid is the national grid company, and in its capacity as transmission system operator
it operates under the supervision of Elcom.
As a member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for
Electricity (ENTSO-E), it is also responsible for coordination and grid usage in the
cross-border exchange of electricity in Europe.
Swissgrid is wholly owned by the Swiss electricity companies Alpiq AG, Alpiq
Suisse AG, Axpo AG, BKW FMB Energie AG, Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG
(CKW), Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG (EGL), Elektrizitätswerk der Stadt
10 www.bfe.admin.ch/radioaktiveabfaelle/01275/01292/index.html?lang=en.
286