V-energie - Improving Energy Efficiency in the Swiss Wine Industry

Projet description and methodology Despite the economic and cultural importance of viticulture in the Swiss landscape, the energy consumption associated with winemaking and the deployment of renewable energies in wine cellars remain surprisingly underdocumented. The V-energie project, conducted in 2024 and 2025 by the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Changins, and HEIA-FR, addresses this gap for the first time. Its main objective is to analyze the energy consumption and production of Swiss wine cellars according to their size and operation, in order to determine the amount of energy required for wine processing and storage per liter of wine. The project led to the creation of an open-access database on energy consumption in Swiss winemaking, based on field visits, in situ measurements, and a questionnaire sent to 1,418 wine estates across the country. A total of 236 wine cellars responded. This participation rate — typical for a survey — calls for some caution in interpreting the results. Nevertheless, the dataset represents the most comprehensive source of information currently available on energy use in Swiss wine cellars and makes it possible to identify reliable orders of magnitude and significant trends within the sector. Data collected The main data collected can be grouped into several categories: Cellar characteristics: location, size, surface area, year of construction or renovation, number of underground levels, and overall building condition. Annual and monthly energy consumption: electricity, thermal energy and water consumption together with the associated energy costs. Wine production: volume of wine produced, number of bottles, wine types, on-site bottling, and bottle reuse practices. Technical systems and equipment: air conditioning and cooling systems, equipment installed in the cellars, operating hours, and installation condition. Renewable energy production: presence of photovoltaic panels, annual solar production, installed capacity, self-consumption rate, and interest in future installations. Winegrowers’ energy awareness and monitoring: level of knowledge regarding energy consumption, energy monitoring practices, perception of energy costs, and estimated share of self-consumed electricity production. Metadata and data quality: data quality and completeness scores, schema version, and traceability information for the source files. For more details about the collected data, please refer to the README file. The V-energie project was made possible thanks to funding from the HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Department of Engineering and Architecture. We would like to thank HES-SO for this funding, as well as the project’s partner schools.