Nuclear Power and the Future Swiss Energy System
Joint White Paper from ETH Zurich & PSI | June 2026
A new study by 19 energy experts from ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is investigated under which conditions the construction of new nuclear power stations may make financial sense for Switzerland’s future energy system. The findings of the study are based on four different energy models. These models calculate which technologies Switzerland could use by 2050 to cover significantly higher electricity demand as cheaply possibly and in a carbon-neutral way.
Gaetan Bally / Keystone
Results
Explore all the figures and the supporting data from the results of the Joint White Paper
Scenarios
Climate policy
Net-zero GHG emissions
Policy variant
Variations on the 45 TWh renewables target given in Swiss Law
Renewables only
Renewables & Nuclear
Market-Driven
Investment variant
Overnight Capital Costs for New Nuclear
Low-cost nuclear
Medium-cost nuclear
High-cost nuclear
Phase-out
WACC variant
Weighted Average Cost of Capital of new nuclear investments
WACC = 8%
WACC = 8%
Project information
Project coordination
This project was coordinated by the Energy Science Center (ESC), ETH Zurich, which supports interdisciplinary energy research and collaboration across academia, industry, and policymakers. The ESC coordinated the project and the preparation of the accompanying report.
Contact
Dr. Christian Schaffner
Executive Director, Energy Science Center (ESC), ETH Zurich
schaffner@esc.ethz.ch