Towards an energy-efficient, carbon-neutral future

We take an integrated view of energy, buildings and infrastructure to help achieve society’s goal of a carbon-neutral world. Renewable electricity production gives us particularly strong leverage here. We are using targeted measures to reduce emissions and energy consumption in our buildings. With our wide-ranging technical expertise, we help our customers make their own contribution to a future worth living.
This page is only partly translated to your selected language. It is also available in the following languages:

Growing demand for renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions and the electrification of the heating and transportation sector are powering BKW’s growth strategy. We want to help ensure that clean energy from efficient sources continues to flow everywhere, all the time, and that it is used efficiently. We are increasing the resilience of habitats that are already feeling the impact of climate change by deploying proven, innovative solutions. Our solutions, products and services help to advance sustainable development in many areas of business.

 

Renewable electricity

We are advancing climate protection and the energy transition by providing electricity from renewable energies. By 2026, we aim to increase our portfolio of new renewable energies to reach over one gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity.

We offer our customers renewable electricity products. Since 2016, we have been supplying our private customers with “naturemade” certified energy as standard. And the standard “Energy Blue” product comes from 100% renewable sources, primarily Swiss hydropower.

Wind turbines in a wheat field with poppies

Greenhouse gas emissions

We are committed to the internationally agreed climate targets and we have made it our mission to speed up decarbonisation of our value chain. We also empower our customers to make their own contribution by providing them with products and services for reducing their emissions.

Our greenhouse gas balance covers the entire BKW Group. It is based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and includes direct and indirect emissions (scope 1 and 2), as well as selected emissions in the value chain (scope 3). You can find detailed information about the greenhouse gas balance in the Sustainability Report.

Reducing energy consumption

Efficient, effective use of energy extends to operations within our company. We are constantly looking for ways to reduce energy consumption in our buildings and operations and to promote the use of renewables. Examples of successful projects at our sites include:

  • optimising our heating and ventilation systems
  • modernising our lighting
  • replacing fossil-fuel boilers with low-carbon units
  • installing photovoltaic systems on the buildings we own and using the electricity that we produce in-house
  • developing and redeveloping properties in accordance with the Minergie standard to boost energy efficiency
  • reviewing the vehicles in our fleet for potential conversion to electric drive
Solar panels on a roof

Decentralised energy systems

[Translate to Englisch (CH):]

 

A solar roof from above

  • Swiss Energypark

    The energy system is undergoing a process of radical change. The energy transition and the decentralised, fluctuating supply of energy which will result requires us, as a distribution system operator, to develop new solutions for the future of energy. Working with the cantons of Jura and Bern, we are testing research projects in the Swiss Energypark which address production, energy storage, electricity distribution and consumption.

  • Endaprime: BKW’s technology and innovation hub

    With the rapid growth of renewable energy and the decarbonisation of entire areas of daily life, the issues of energy, infrastructure and buildings are increasingly converging. The planning and operation of energy solutions are becoming complex, interdisciplinary tasks that require support through simulations and analytics. BKW’s technology and innovation hub – Endaprime – is developing solutions for this new reality.

  • Microgrid networks

    The BKW portfolio also includes the creation of modern microgrid networks. This encompasses smart metering technologies and BKW’s Solar-Log software and hardware solution. Solar-Log is sold in 125 countries around the globe and ensures optimal operation of solar plants.

Own consumption solutions

[Translate to Englisch (CH):]

Mit Home Energy produzieren Kundinnen und Kunden ihren eigenen Solarstrom mit einer Photovoltaikanlage. Kombiniert mit effizienten Wärmepumpenboilern, die nur noch einen Drittel der Energie von Elektroboilern benötigen, und einer intelligenten Steuerung werden Energie und Kosten gespart. Damit trägt die BKW gemeinsam mit ihren Kundinnen und Kunden zum Ausbau erneuerbarer Energie bei.

The wooden house of a heat network against a blue sky

  • Home Energy

    Home Energy allows consumers to produce their own solar power with a photovoltaic system. When combined with efficient heat pump boilers – which require just one third of the energy of electric boilers – and a smart control system, HomeEnergy reduces energy and costs. All of this means BKW and its customers are working together to help expand renewable energy.

  • Associations for own consumption

    Local renewable energy generation has become a must for new construction and remodelling projects in Switzerland. BKW helps multiple parties within a building form an association to share the energy generated by a rooftop photovoltaic installation for their own consumption (ZEV). Smart meters calculate electricity consumption based on usage. Meters register electricity from the building’s own photovoltaic system and sourced from the local electricity plant’s grid, helping to create green energy and mobility solutions.

  • Climate-friendly heating solutions

    BKW also uses renewable energies to produce heat, with climate-friendly solutions like heat pumps and wood-burning systems. BKW produces AEK Pellets® made of natural domestic wood to operate pellet-based heating systems. Its annual production in 2021 was enough to supply 15,000 family homes with heat. Compared with the use of fossil fuels, these pellets saves around 80,000 tonnes of CO2 during combustion.

    By processing sawdust, wood shavings and wood chips from local sawmills and timber companies, added value stays in the region. This reduces large quantities of grey energy (energy consumption for production, storage, transport, disposal, etc.), reliance on fossil fuel imports and risks arising from fluctuations in global market prices.

  • Heat solutions for communities

    BKW offers communities sustainable heat solutions through its subsidiary AEK Contracting. Large office buildings and individual households alike receive renewable, local heat in a variety of projects. Connections to homes and the main district heating line are coordinated with community building projects. To conserve resources, roads are only dug up once wherever possible, and all planned infrastructure work is carried out in parallel. You can read about one example on our blog.

Electromobility

Each year, combustion engine vehicles emit nearly 25 million tons of CO2 in Switzerland. They are thus responsible for about 40% of Swiss emissions. One option for reducing these emissions significantly is electromobility run on renewable electricity. BKW is actively shaping this transformation. For one, it is reviewing its own vehicle fleet to see where it can convert to electric drive. It is also working with customers in its new competence centre for smart e-mobility solutions. For example, BKW is combining decentralised renewable energy and heat production in buildings with the planning, installation and operation of charging infrastructure, reducing CO2 emissions in the process.

 

A man charges an electric car

Building technology solutions

BKW increases energy efficiency in buildings and reduces energy consumption with its building technology solutions. For example, heating systems can be programmed so they turn on and off based on a daily schedule or room temperature. In this way, BKW makes a significant contribution to reducing or even eliminating dependence on fossil fuels in buildings.

 

Sustainable cities and communities

As urban sprawl expands, our home and work environments, infrastructure and human behaviour are becoming more closely interconnected. These habitats require energy-efficient buildings, decentralised renewable energy production and integrated network infrastructure. Secure spaces, accessible green areas and modern transport solutions ensure high quality of life. BKW is responding to these challenges with its expertise, such as transport and network planning, flood protection, timber building system and sustainable architecture capabilities.

 

Going beyond green

Going beyond green

ingenhoven architects, a BKW Engineering company, is creating tomorrow’s living environments with its supergreen® concept. This results in diverse green spaces – such as accessible gardens and green roofs and terraces – which reflect health-related elements, such as heat, light, cool and calm. The use of recycled concrete and natural materials, generation of energy from renewable sources, circular economy approaches and smart use of the buildings’ natural surroundings help to create climate-neutral living spaces that conserve resources.

Reliable and resilient infrastructure

Growing demand for reliable data and communication networks, efficient and environmentally friendly lighting solutions and resource-efficient construction represent an opportunity for BKW. We use the Building Information Modelling (BIM) method in many of our projects. BKW helps customers, such as cities and communities, to strengthen their infrastructure’s resilience to the impacts of climate change

 

[Translate to Englisch (CH):]

 

A Deutsche Bahn train in the middle of electricity pylons

  • Building Information Modelling (BIM) method

    Working together with DB Energie, a subsidiary of the German state rail company Deutsche Bahn, BKW carried out a pilot project using the BIM method. A 132-kilovolt overhead line in the Basel area dating back to the 1950s was due for replacement. The railway electricity line runs through an area where infrastructure facilities, commercial buildings and residential buildings are packed closely together. The project met these challenges by applying the BIM method to an overhead line project for the first time in Germany.

  • Flood protection

    One way to promote resilience is flood protection, for example by means of dams and flood retention basins. The construction of the flood retention basin in Schrobenhausen (Germany) shows how these methods can prevent floods and damage to nearby residential areas.

  • Drinking water

    Drinking water is essential for life. Functioning drinking water supply and wastewater disposal are among our society’s basic needs. Some of Switzerland’s drinking water networks are decades old, resulting in water losses of around 12 per cent. BKW Infra helps to maintain critical drinking and extinguishing water infrastructure with services such as an online monitoring system for water networks, a smart leak detection system in hydrants, the construction and maintenance of water networks and resource-efficient pipe rehabilitation projects.