{"id":997,"date":"2026-09-14T16:58:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/?p=997"},"modified":"2026-09-14T16:58:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T16:58:54","slug":"reint-jelger-does-kbw-in-switzerland-do-windenergy-and-solar-majority-of-spritty-spritty-generation-is-probably-hydropower-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/?p=997","title":{"rendered":"Reint Jelger: Does KBW in Switzerland do windenergy and solar, majority of spritty spritty generation is probably hydropower right?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google Gemini: Yes, <strong>BKW<\/strong> (often referred to as BKW AG or BKW Group, based in Bern) generates electricity using <strong>wind and solar energy<\/strong>, though <strong>hydropower remains the core backbone<\/strong> of its direct Swiss generation asset portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Within Switzerland, the vast majority of BKW\u2019s owned generation comes from <strong>hydroelectric facilities<\/strong> (run-of-river and storage reservoirs\/pumped storage, such as its stakes in major Alpine hydro complexes).<sup><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before BKW decommissioned its M\u00fchleberg nuclear power plant in late 2019, nuclear and hydro split the main generation burden. Today, hydropower is BKW&#8217;s dominant domestic source of electricity production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BKW has built out a large wind energy portfolio, primarily <strong>outside Switzerland<\/strong>:<sup><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>International Wind Farms:<\/strong> BKW operates wind assets with over 1,000 MW of installed capacity across <strong>Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, and Norway<\/strong>. BKW<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Domestic Wind:<\/strong> In Switzerland, wind projects face lengthy regulatory and environmental approval processes, but BKW operates key Swiss wind assets like the <em>Juvent<\/em> wind farm in the Bernese Jura. Wikipedia<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overall, wind accounts for roughly <strong>20% of BKW&#8217;s total electricity generation<\/strong> across its European portfolio. www.bkw.com<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While large-scale utility solar is historically smaller in BKW&#8217;s direct generation mix compared to hydro and wind, solar is a major strategic growth area:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Alpine &amp; Rooftop Solar:<\/strong> BKW participates in pioneering Swiss solar installations (e.g., Mont-Soleil and high-altitude Alpine PV initiatives) and commercial rooftop PV contracting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Energy Services &amp; Installation:<\/strong> A massive portion of BKW&#8217;s modern business model revolves around <strong>building, installing, and servicing rooftop solar and smart grid infrastructure<\/strong> for third-party residential, commercial, and municipal clients across Switzerland.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary of Generation Mix<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Power Source<\/th><th>Role in BKW Portfolio<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Hydropower<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Dominant Domestic Source<\/strong> \u2013 Main stay for Swiss baseload and peak grid stability.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Wind Energy<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Major International Asset<\/strong> \u2013 Over 1,000 MW capacity operating in Northern &amp; Western Europe.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Solar Power<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Growing Asset &amp; Service Pillar<\/strong> \u2013 Alpine installations, contracting, and grid integration services.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reint Jelger: Is it majorly Swiss owned, like what percentage?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gemini: BKW is <strong>majority Swiss public and corporate owned<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over <strong>62% of the company<\/strong> is directly controlled by Swiss public entities and Swiss energy companies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Shareholder \/ Category<\/th><th>Ownership Share<\/th><th>Notes<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Canton of Bern<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>52.54%<\/strong><\/td><td>The public state government of Bern holds the controlling majority.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Groupe E SA<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>10.00%<\/strong><\/td><td>A major Swiss energy utility active in Western Switzerland.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Free Float \/ Other Investors<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>37.46%<\/strong><\/td><td>Publicly traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker: <code>BKW<\/code>).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because the Canton of Bern maintains a legal majority of <strong>52.5%<\/strong>, BKW operates as a majority state-owned enterprise (cantonal utility).<sup><\/sup> The majority of its remaining free-floating shares are held by institutional investors, pension funds, and retail shareholders traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-69.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-998\" srcset=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-69.png 1024w, https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-69-300x164.png 300w, https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-69-768x419.png 768w, https:\/\/baarda.ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/afbeelding-69-500x273.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To calculate the money BKW makes per day in Swiss Francs (CHF), we can look at both total company performance and the contribution specifically from its wind and renewable generation operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While BKW does not break out standalone net profit specifically for wind power separate from its broader <strong>Energy Solutions<\/strong> division (which combines hydro, wind, solar, and energy trading), we can estimate the daily contribution based on production capacity and revenue shares:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Energy Division Contribution:<\/strong> The Energy division generates an operating profit (EBIT) of roughly <strong>CHF 363.5 million to CHF 477.2 million annually<\/strong> (~CHF 1.0 million to CHF 1.3 million per day).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wind Share:<\/strong> Wind energy accounts for roughly <strong>20% of BKW\u2019s overall power generation volume<\/strong> (primarily driven by its international wind farm operations across Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, and Switzerland).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Applying this 20% generation share to BKW\u2019s total operating profit suggests that wind energy directly accounts for approximately <strong>CHF 200,000 to CHF 300,000 per day<\/strong> in operating income (EBIT) for BKW.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google Gemini: Yes, BKW (often referred to as BKW AG or BKW Group, based in Bern) generates electricity using wind and solar energy, though hydropower remains the core backbone of its direct Swiss generation asset portfolio. Within Switzerland, the vast &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/?p=997\">Weiterlesen <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":999,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions\/999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baarda.ch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}