The Federal Council of Switzerland says the Energy Act will adopt most of the amendments from April 1, 2026
This will accelerate the deployment of large-scale solar, wind, and hydropower projects of national interest
It will simplify and ease the planning processes for renewable energy projects to enable their faster grid connection
Switzerland will bring most of the provisions of the Acceleration Decree into force from April 1, 2026. This will pave the way for accelerated construction of large-scale renewable energy production facilities in the country.
The decree makes amendments to the Energy Act, which was adopted by the Swiss Federal Assembly on February 25, 2026. It will simplify and ease the permitting procedures for large-scale solar, wind, and hydropower facilities of national interest, said the Federal Council.
The council announced that Swiss Cantons will be required to conduct a consolidated planning approval procedure for solar and wind power plants of national interest. They will ensure that all requisite cantonal and municipal permits for construction, expansion, or updates are done under a single window.
Additionally, the amendments will also shorten the legal recourse process for such facilities. At the canton level, only an appeal to the cantonal court of appeal will be possible.
Only 2 amendments will not be added – one relating to the feed-in tariff (FIT) from renewable energy sources at the point of feed-in, and the minimum FIT for installations under 150 kW capacity.
The government had previously said it plans to keep the minimum FITs in place for projects below 150 kW from 2026 onward, to protect producers from excessively low market prices (see Switzerland’s Electricity Act Amendments To Boost Solar PV).
By 2030, Switzerland targets to achieve 23 TWh of clean energy supply, including 18.7 TWh from solar. Swissolar says this target will require 2.7 GW of annual solar installations (see Switzerland Targets 18.7 TWh Solar Electricity Production By 2030).
