The bulk of the electricity produced in Switzerland is generated by hydro and nuclear power plants. The proportion of electricity generated from new renewable energies is currently still negligible.

Approximately 40 percent of the electricity produced in Switzerland is generated by the country's five nuclear power plants: Beznau I and II, Mühleberg, Gösgen and Leibstadt. Significantly more than 50 percent of the electricity generated is produced by hydroelectric plants, including run-of-river power plants, storage power plants and small-scale hydroelectric plants. At present, only two percent of Swiss electricity is produced from new renewable energy forms such as photovoltaic cells, wind generation and biomass conversion. The greatest share of this (more than 85 percent) is generated by the burning of rubbish in waste-to-energy plants and biogas collected from sewerage treatment plants. The Swiss federal government has set the ambitious target of increasing the proportion of electricity from new renewable energies from two percent to 5.4 TWh or about eight percent by 2030.

Electricity production in Switzerland is already unable to meet domestic demand at all times in the winter months. This is why Switzerland requires the electricity from French nuclear power plants supplied at privileged transmission rates under longstanding supply agreements. These agreements will lapse in the foreseeable future, however, as they are not compatible with European law.