Cleantech market in Switzerland

Switzerland is a small landlocked country at the heart of Europe, but not part of the EU. Switzerland does not have natural resources beyond water and natural beauty, and its economy is dominated by the service sector, followed by the industrial sector.

With a professional culture of diligent work & precision, the Cleantech expertise in Switzerland builds on innovation. Swiss Cleantech companies are particularly strong in the fields of energy and resource efficiency as well recycling. While the Swiss domestic market is small, there are significant opportunities with MNEs and with clean technology providers operating out of Switzerland on a global scale, and which can leverage the strong financial center of Switzerland.

Key opportunities for Canadian Cleantech companies in Switzerland

• Early users of hydrogen for mobility and local CCUS in the domestic Swiss market
• Some opportunities for smart-grid & energy storage companies in-market, since Switzerland is adding more renewable generation to its electricity mix
• Swiss-based MNEs and hidden champions can become customers or channel partners for global markets
• Access to global commodity traders based in Switzerland
• In-market opportunities are small compared to EU, and there tends to be a preference for established partners from Switzerland or Europe
• Competitive environment for global opportunities with MNEs

Notable challenges for Canadian Cleantech companies in Switzerland

• In-market opportunities are small compared to EU, and there tends to be a preference for established partners from Switzerland or Europe
• Competitive environment for global opportunities with MNEs

Switzerland's Cleantech business landscape

Switzerland's economic fabric is largely made of small and medium-sized enterprises. The cleantech sector is no exception, although it is supported by a handful of major industrial groups such as ABB, Burckhardt Compression, Georg Fischer, Gurit, Huber+Suhner, or Sulzer. Promising start-ups including Climeworks, South Pole, eSMART, Battrion, Urbio, Hades, Flisom, Solaxess, DePoly, Energy Vault, Insolight and many others are emerging from the leading universities ETH Zurich, EPFL in Lausanne and other research institutes.

The transition to a greener economy and commitment to Net Zero creates important opportunities beyond the Cleantech sector: major Swiss industrial companies are either looking for solutions to become greener or are positioning themselves as solution providers for greening their respective industries.

Swiss MNEs aim to globally seize opportunities, such as created by the IRA or the EU Green Deal implementation. While the Swiss government is committed to the Paris Agreement, has a carbon tax, and supports Cleantech start-ups, much of the action is driven by industry.

This is supported by the banking and insurance center, with continued investments worldwide in line with ESG commitments. The major commodity traders based in Switzerland, such as Glencore, Vitol, Trafigura and others, seize commercially viable opportunities in emission trading, and they make strategic investments along the lines of critical minerals and hydrogen derivatives, following closely the actual market demand.

Summary

In the local Swiss Cleantech market, there are some opportunities for hydrogen technology providers, CCUS technology providers and for specialized smart grid companies. The larger opportunities will exist with Swiss-based MNEs that are looking to green their own company or improve their offering of product & service portfolio, catering to worldwide markets.

For more information on Cleantech in the Swiss market please contact hauke.harms@international.gc.ca.