Energy Federal Council wants faster expansion of the electricity grid - with overhead lines

The Federal Council wants to further speed up the approval process for the conversion and expansion of electricity grids. Among other things, it therefore wants to enshrine in law that transmission lines must in principle be constructed as overhead lines in future.

The Federal Council is proposing this in a revision of the Electricity Act, for which it opened the consultation process on Wednesday. As the Federal Council writes in a press release, cabling should only be examined if an overhead line would impair protection against non-ionizing radiation.

Cabling would also have to be examined if it is a matter of protecting objects that are of national importance in terms of nature and cultural heritage protection.

According to the Federal Council's explanations, a transmission grid line in Switzerland can currently be constructed as an overhead line or as an underground cable. If overhead lines were now prioritized by law, this would speed up the planning process and the duration of approval and appeal procedures.