Swiss industry may switch to night shifts to prevent heavy load on electric grid

Swiss industrial companies think about shifting work to nights and on weekends. It may help with the energy crisis. During the day, energy consumption is higher and by working more in the nights and weekends, energy shortages can be prevented at peak times.

The idea comes from Swissmem, the Swiss trade association for the mechanical and electrical engineering industry. During the summer, Switzerland can export electricity, especially thanks to the large production by hydroelectric power plants.

But in the cold winter months, the country depends in part on imports of fossil fuels to run power plants. There are concerns that gas shortages could arise as Russia continues to cut gas supplies to Europe.

Swissmen president Martin Hirzel says it is vital that energy shortages are prevented because companies in the Alpine country could suffer damage and jobs could be endangered.

By switching to production at night and weekends, this problem can be addressed, says Hirzel. In addition, Swissmem calls on companies, the government and households to save as much energy as possible by, for example, reducing heating.