Inventory of Historic Hydropower Plants

Context

In brief

• The Federal Council took note of the report on 2 October 2026
• The inventory covers facilities with an initial capacity of at least 10 kW
• Those active in 1914 and still existing today are included
• The report complements the statistics on facilities of at least 300 kW

Key facts

• Publication → 2 October 2026
• Location → Bern
• Body → Federal Council
• Mandate → postulate 24.3007 of CAPTE-S
• Historical criterion → initial capacity of at least 10 kilowatts
• Reference year → 1914
• Complementary statistics → installed capacity of at least 300 kilowatts
• Document → 1.77 MB PDF

On 2 October 2026, at its meeting in Bern, the Federal Council took note of the report in fulfilment of postulate 24.3007 of the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy Committee of the Council of States, referred to in the communiqué by the acronym CAPTE-S. The communiqué presents the act as the taking note of the report, published as a Federal Council document.

The report has a defined scope. It provides an overview of hydroelectric facilities with an initial capacity of at least 10 kilowatts that were in operation in the reference year 1914 and still exist today. The three elements must be read together: the initial-capacity threshold, operation in the specified year and the continued existence of the facility.

What Bern publishes

The inventory concerns historic hydroelectric facilities in Switzerland. The communiqué presents it as a complement, not a replacement, to the statistics on Switzerland's hydroelectric facilities. The latter records operating facilities with an installed capacity of at least 300 kilowatts.

The distinction is essential for reading the document correctly. The historical inventory uses the initial capacity and the threshold of 10 kilowatts; the statistics referred to use the installed capacity and the threshold of 300 kilowatts. The time criterion is also different: for the inventory, the reference to 1914 and the existence indicated by the source matter, while the description of the statistics is limited to operating facilities.

The text released on 2 October does not state the number of facilities, their locations, the capacity of each one or any subsequent interventions. These data cannot be added to the news item without consulting the report. The available reference is the PDF Inventar der historischen Wasserkraftanlagen in der Schweiz: Bericht des Bundesrates, published on 2 October 2026 and indicated as having a size of 1.77 MB.

For a separate overview of personal expenses, costo della vita in Svizzera remains a distinct tool: the communiqué does not quantify costs, tariffs or amounts for households.

For the national public, the key point is not the announcement of a new single threshold for all facilities. The source presents two complementary surveys, with different reference units. Anyone reading the inventory must therefore preserve the distinction between historical and statistical data, without turning the threshold of one survey into the threshold of the other.

Operational details

The difference between inventory and statistics changes the way you have to read a data sheet or a reference to a plant. It is not enough to find the word hydroelectric: you have to understand which survey you are using and what power is indicated. The press release does not offer elements to add the two sets or to treat them as if they had the same requirement.

Two criteria, two readings

| Detection | Indicated power | Time or status criterion | | Historical inventory | at least 10 kW of initial power | in operation in 1914 and still existing | | Swiss Statistics | at least 300 kW installed capacity | system in operation |

The table shows the distinctions contained in the press release. In the first case, the combination of the three filters leads to a historical snapshot: initial power threshold, operation in the reference year 1914 and permanence of the plant. In the second case, the statistics consider the plants in operation and use the installed power as a parameter.

The source does not say that a system present in the first panel must also appear in the second. For this reason, when comparing the documents, you must first check the threshold and then the type of power. It is a simple step, but avoid reading the 10 kW as if they were 10 kW installed or the 300 kW as a criterion of the historical inventory.

The scope of the information also remains delimited. The press release does not quantify production, does not indicate electricity prices, investments, employment or effects on household budgets. It also does not specify which plants are located in the individual cantons. The directly documented impact is therefore informative: the statistics of the plants in operation are accompanied by an overview built on a historical reference and the existence of the plants.

This limit also counts for public communication. An article or a sheet that reports only the numerical threshold, without specifying whether it is initial or installed power, loses the central distinction of the ratio. A correct reading does not require adding estimates: it requires keeping exactly the criteria indicated.

To keep the personal calculation separate from the report reading, the calcolatore stipendio/imposte addresses another need and does not add data to the inventory.

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Key points

Anyone who wants to verify the content of the publication can follow a simple procedure, keeping the historical document and the statistics on operating plants separate.

1. Start with the date. Note 2 ottobre 2026 and Bern: these are the references in the communiqué to the session at which the Federal Council took note of the report. 2. Identify the mandate. In your note, associate the report with postulate 24.3007 of CAPTE-S, i.e. the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy Committee of the Council of States. 3. Read the scope of the inventory. Check, in order, the initial capacity of at least 10 kilowatts, operation in the reference year 1914 and the fact that the plant still exists. 4. Make the comparison only afterwards. If you consult the statistics on Switzerland's hydroelectric plants, note separately the threshold of at least 300 kilowatts of installed capacity and the criterion of plants in operation.

The document to consult

The reference indicated in the publication is the PDF entitled Inventar der historischen Wasserkraftanlagen in der Schweiz: Bericht des Bundesrates. The communiqué's page lists it with a size of 1.77 MB and the date 2 ottobre 2026. For further details, the correct step is therefore to open that report, not replace it with inferences based solely on the 300-kilowatt threshold.

The communiqué does not indicate a deadline for consultation, a deadline for submitting comments or an administrative procedure linked to the inventory. For consultation, the explicit time reference is 2 ottobre 2026; 1914 remains the historical reference year.

If you are drafting a note or article, it is advisable to attribute the report to the Federal Council and keep visible the difference between the historical inventory and the statistics on operating plants. No additional numbers are needed to explain the central point. For your personal economic framework, use calcolatore stipendio/imposte.

Source: admin.ch