Swiss vote to withdraw country from use of nuclear power

Swiss voters were set on Sunday to back the government's plan to provide billions of dollars in subsidies for renewable energy, ban new nuclear plants and help bail out struggling utilities, broadcaster SRG projected.

Initial results indicated a 58 percent vote in favour, according to the gfs.bern institute.

Preliminary results issued after voting stations closed at midday (1000 UTC) seemed to suggest that a majority of voters supported the shift, with final results expected by late afternoon.

The Swiss government chose to gradually phase out nuclear power after the disaster in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, where there were three nuclear meltdowns at a plant after a tsunami caused by an quake.

But the president of Switzerland's Green party, Regula Rytz, hailed the vote as a "moment of historic change".

"Switzerland will finally enter the 21st century when it comes to energy".

Tallies of such early votes indicated that almost 72 percent of voters in the canton of Geneva had voted for the plan, as had 62.1 percent in Bale-Town and almost 60 percent in Zurich. Only four German-speaking central cantons voted against it, including the canton of Aargau, where three of five now operational nuclear reactors are located.

The Swiss government wants to ban the construction of new nuclear power plants and decommission the country's five existing ones at the end of their technically safe operating lives.

Instead, it aims to increase reliance on hydraulic power as well as renewables like solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. Berlin took a similar step after the disaster by announcing the phaseout of nuclear power in Germany.

Swiss reactors provide a third of the country's electricity.

While the new energy plan does not contain a clear timetable for the nuclear phaseout, it does contain ambitious targets for reducing energy consumption and for improving energy efficacy. An additional 450 million francs (approx 412 million euros) will be set aside from an existing fossil fuels tax to help cut energy use in buildings by 43 percent by 2035, compared to levels from the year 2000.

The plan also calls for a rapid increase in the use of renewable power sources.

The government's energy strategy is supported by the Swiss parliament, with the exception of the country's largest political party, the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP), which called for Sunday's referendum. "I am very anxious about the future", SVP MP Celine Amaudruz told RTS broadcaster, reacting to the preliminary referendum results.

Debate on the "Energy Strategy 2050" law had focused on what customers and taxpayers will pay for the measures and whether a four-fold rise in solar and wind power by 2035, as envisaged in the law, can deliver reliable supplies.

Alpiq, BKW, AXPO [AXPOH.UL] and other utilities would share a 120 million franc annual subsidy to help close the gap between production costs and market prices.

And it says the cost could easily be offset by improving energy efficiency in buildings, which reduces heating costs.