Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility

We are helping to shape the energy future – safely, innovatively and sustainably

Swissgrid has always taken a long-term and sustainable approach to its business activities. As part of its strategy development, Swissgrid has decided to systematise the ecological, economic and social measures already in place in the various business areas and to anchor sustainability even more throughout the company. All areas of sustainability management at Swissgrid are now grouped together under «Corporate Social & Environmental Responsibility» (CSER) and represent an important component of Swissgrid’s Strategy 2027.

Sustainability Report 2022 - Statement by Yves Zumwald

Fields of action

Swissgrid is guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is committed to four fields of action.

Purpose	Swissgrid meets its key responsibility and ensures its economic efficiency in the long term.
People	Swissgrid takes its social responsibility towards its employees, contractors and other stakeholders seriously.
Partnership	Swissgrid behaves with integrity, minimises risks and creates added value for society through cooperation with stakeholders.
Planet	Swissgrid acts responsibly towards the environment.

Material topics

Swissgrid has laid the foundations for its commitment to sustainability by drawing up a materiality analysis in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards. The materiality analysis indicates the relevance of economic, ecological and social issues from the perspective of Swissgrid and its stakeholders, divided into the four fields of action Purpose, People, Partnership and Planet.

The result of the materiality analysis is presented as a matrix that combines two aspects of materiality. The vertical axis represents the assessment by Swissgrid’s stakeholders of topics over which the company has a significant influence. The horizontal axis illustrates on the one hand how the company is affected by certain issues (outside-in) and, on the other hand, the impact of the company’s business activities on the economy, the environment and society (inside-out). The vertical dimension will be explored in even more detail in the future by directly involving the stakeholders. It currently represents a preliminary evaluation by Swissgrid of the relevance of the topics for the stakeholders. Targets for the material topics will be continuously defined during normal management cycles and appropriate measures implemented.

What we do

Swissgrid contributes to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals within the framework of Corporate Social & Environmental Responsibility. Sustainability is actively put into practice in all of Swissgrid’s activities.

Purpose

Equigy

In 2020, Swissgrid founded the crowd balancing platform Equigy in association with TenneT and Terna. This platform takes advantage of blockchain technology to make it easier to bundle and control small, flexible energy resources and to use them to stabilise the grid. This gives transmission system operators access to a large pool of flexible electricity whilst helping to promote renewable energies.
Dynamic Line Rating

This technology enables Swissgrid to make more efficient use of the existing grid infrastructure. Radio sensors mounted directly on the conductors continuously determine the intensity of the current, the temperature, the angle of inclination and the acceleration. The maximum electricity volume that can flow through the conductors can be flexibly determined on the basis of this real-time data, combined with local weather forecasts. Up to now, three static seasonal limits were specified for each line.

People

Safety First

Safety is the top priority for Swissgrid. Integral safety management and a certified occupational safety management system are important prerequisites for the protection of employees, third parties, the environment and the plants. Furthermore, systems and information are protected from external influences. In 2021, Swissgrid introduced the Safety Culture Ladder, an assessment method that can be used to measure and strengthen general safety awareness within the company.
Swissgrid as an employer

Employees make an important contribution to ensuring a safe and stable extra-high-voltage grid and thus to Switzerland’s electricity supply. Swissgrid’s goal is to attract and retain the best employees. Among other things, the company offers attractive further training opportunities. In addition, Swissgrid received the «Fair Compensation» certificate again in 2021, while its membership of profawo encourages employees to achieve a good work-life balance. Since 2018, all full-time positions have been advertised with a workload of 80 to 100%.
Diversity and inclusion at Swissgrid

Swissgrid offers an international working environment with more than 600 employees from 28 nations. The company is clearly committed to diversity and inclusion in terms of nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, culture and religion. One of Swissgrid’s goals is to strengthen diversity and cooperation within teams. In the medium term, Swissgrid is aiming in particular for a balanced relationship between the generations and the sexes.

Partnership

Decarbonisation of the energy system

Transmission system operators play a key role in achieving a balanced climate. This is why Swissgrid has teamed up with seven European transmission system operators to launch an initiative to reduce CO₂ emissions. The aim is for the operators to reduce their own CO₂ footprints and to achieve greater savings potential at the system level by means of electrification and integration of renewable en-ergy resources.
Sustainable procurement

Swissgrid has decided to organise its procurement system in a sustainable manner. Together with nine other European transmission system operators, Swissgrid is calling on its suppliers to support the transmission system operators with more sustainable products and services, thus making an important contribution to the common goal of a climate-neutral Europe (The Greener Choice – A Joint Call for Action). In future, procurement at Swissgrid will take into account the entire lifecycle of products, from raw material extraction to disposal. At the same time, Swissgrid has established a «Supplier Sustainability Charter», which sets out sustainability goals and expectations and will be signed by all suppliers going forward.

Planet

Renewables Grid Initiative

At the European level, Swissgrid is actively involved in the Renewables Grid Initiative (RGI). This alliance of grid operators and environmental groups aims to fully integrate energy from renewable energy resources into the European grids.
Small structures under pylons

In cooperation with local nature conservation organisations, Swissgrid creates habitat for plants and animals such as amphibians and reptiles, insects and weasels under its pylons with artificially created piles of stones and branches, pools and nesting boxes. Nesting boxes on electricity pylons can help to reintroduce endangered bird species such as jackdaws and kestrels.
Interference in nature via infrastructure projects

In the course of construction projects, Swissgrid does everything in its power to avoid and minimise negative impacts on the environment. Swissgrid implements measures that go beyond the official requirements. At the Sils substation, which is surrounded by landscapes of national, regional and local importance that require special protection, steps have been taken to prevent the spread of neophytes, to encourage weasels to control mice, and to install nesting boxes.
Low-emission commuting

The head office in Aarau, which Swissgrid moved into in 2018, is easy to reach by public transport. The building also has parking spaces for bicycles and charging stations for electric bikes, as well as additional facilities such as cloakrooms, showers, quiet rooms and a drying room for wet clothes. Employees can use a special app to form carpools.
Electricity consumption at Swissgrid sites

Since 1 January 2022, Swissgrid has covered the annual electricity requirements of around 6 GWh for its Aarau and Prilly sites and for 16 substations with 100% hydropower from Switzerland.