🇨🇭 Part of the Swiss Public Data MCP Portfolio

⚡ swiss-energy-mcp

MCP server for Swiss energy data from the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE/BFE) via GeoAdmin REST API and opendata.swiss — no API key required.

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version

swiss-energy-mcp demo – Claude asks for power plants near Wädenswil

Overview

swiss-energy-mcp gives AI assistants structured, location-based access to Switzerland's energy infrastructure. Built on open geodata from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE/BFE) via the GeoAdmin REST API and the opendata.swiss catalogue — completely authentication-free.

The server is part of a growing portfolio of Swiss open data MCP servers. Think of it as the energy atlas counterpart to swiss-road-mobility-mcp: while the latter maps mobility, this server maps where Switzerland produces electricity, where solar potential exists, and which municipalities hold the "Energiestadt" label.

Anchor demo query: "Which power plants are within 20 km of the school in Wädenswil — and is the municipality an Energiestadt?"

Features

🔍 10 ready-to-use tools covering all major energy data layers from SFOE/BFE
⚡ Power plants — all types: photovoltaic, hydro, wind, biomass, nuclear, with optional category filter
💨 Wind turbines — detailed data incl. manufacturer, model, hub height, annual production
💧 Hydropower plants — type, status, turbine capacity, expected annual output
☀️ PV large installations — project name, capacity, annual/winter production, altitude
🌿 Biogas plants — plant name, output
🏙️ Energiestädte — municipalities with the Swiss "Energiestadt" label (score, year awarded, audits)
🏠 Solar roof potential — suitability category, area, orientation, and slope per roof segment
📊 Location energy profile — combines 5 layers into a single overview for any Swiss location
🗂️ SFOE dataset search — full-text search across SFOE publications on opendata.swiss
✅ Status check — verifies availability of both upstream APIs
☁️ Dual transport — stdio for Claude Desktop, Streamable HTTP for cloud deployment

Prerequisites

Python 3.11+
uv (recommended) or pip

Installation

Claude Desktop (stdio transport)

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "swiss-energy-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["swiss-energy-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Config file locations:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Local development

bash

git clone https://github.com/malkreide/swiss-energy-mcp.git
cd swiss-energy-mcp
uv sync
uv run swiss-energy-mcp

Cloud / HTTP transport (Streamable HTTP)

For use via claude.ai in the browser (e.g. on managed workstations without local software):

bash

SWISS_ENERGY_TRANSPORT=http uvx swiss-energy-mcp

💡 "stdio for the developer laptop, HTTP for the browser."

Quickstart

Once connected in Claude Desktop, try:

Code

What power plants are within 20 km of Bern?
Show me all wind turbines in the Jura region.
Is Zürich an Energiestadt? What's their score?
What is the solar potential of rooftops near lat=47.37, lon=8.54?
Give me a full energy profile for the region around Lucerne.
Find SFOE datasets about hydropower.

Available Tools

Tool	Description
`energy_find_power_plants`	All electricity generation plants within a radius (optional category filter)
`energy_find_wind_turbines`	Wind turbines with manufacturer, model, hub height
`energy_find_hydro_plants`	Hydropower plants with capacity and expected output
`energy_find_pv_installations`	Large PV installations with annual/winter production
`energy_find_biogas_plants`	Biogas plants
`energy_find_energy_cities`	Municipalities with "Energiestadt" label
`energy_solar_potential`	Solar suitability of roof segments at a location
`energy_location_profile`	Combined energy profile (5 layers) for a location
`energy_search_bfe_datasets`	Full-text search over SFOE datasets on opendata.swiss
`energy_check_status`	Check availability of GeoAdmin and opendata.swiss APIs

All tools accept WGS84 coordinates (lat/lon). Conversion to Swiss LV95 is handled internally.

Example Use Cases

Query	Tool
"Power plants near Bern (20 km radius)?"	`energy_find_power_plants`
"Wind turbines in the Jura?"	`energy_find_wind_turbines`
"Is Zürich an Energiestadt?"	`energy_find_energy_cities`
"Solar potential of rooftops near lat=47.37, lon=8.54?"	`energy_solar_potential`
"Full energy profile for Lucerne region?"	`energy_location_profile`
"SFOE datasets on hydropower?"	`energy_search_bfe_datasets`

→ More use cases by audience →

Data Sources

Source	URL	Auth
GeoAdmin REST API (swisstopo)	`api3.geo.admin.ch`	None
opendata.swiss CKAN API	`opendata.swiss/api/3/action`	None

BFE Layers used:

ch.bfe.elektrizitaetsproduktionsanlagen
ch.bfe.windenergieanlagen
ch.bfe.statistik-wasserkraftanlagen
ch.bfe.photovoltaik-grossanlagen
ch.bfe.biogasanlagen
ch.bfe.energiestaedte
ch.bfe.solarenergie-eignung-daecher

Configuration

All variables use the SWISS_ENERGY_ prefix and are validated at startup.

Environment variable	Default	Description
`SWISS_ENERGY_TRANSPORT`	`stdio`	Transport mode: `stdio` or `http`
`SWISS_ENERGY_HOST`	`127.0.0.1`	Host for HTTP transport. Bind `0.0.0.0` only inside a container.
`SWISS_ENERGY_PORT`	`8000`	Port for HTTP transport
`SWISS_ENERGY_CORS_ORIGINS`	`https://claude.ai`	Comma-separated allowed CORS origins (HTTP transport)
`SWISS_ENERGY_ALLOWED_HOSTS`	(empty)	Comma-separated inbound `Host` allow-list. Only needed for a non-loopback bind.
`SWISS_ENERGY_LOG_LEVEL`	`INFO`	Log level: `DEBUG` / `INFO` / `WARNING` / `ERROR`
`SWISS_ENERGY_HTTP_TIMEOUT`	`20`	Upstream HTTP timeout in seconds

Both list-valued variables also accept a JSON array — ["https://a.test"] — in addition to the comma-separated form.

See .env.example for a template.

MCP Protocol Version

This server speaks two protocol eras over the same endpoint. The client's first request on a connection decides which one applies; a later claim from the other era is refused.

Era	Revision	Who reaches it
`initialize` handshake	`2024-11-05` … `2025-11-25`	What today's clients speak. The server answers with the revision asked for, or with the `2025-11-25` ceiling when the request asks for something newer.
Per-request envelope	`2026-07-28`	A request carrying the `2026-07-28` `_meta` envelope opens a modern connection.

Both revisions are pinned in tests/test_protocol_version.py and asserted against the installed SDK, so a Dependabot bump of mcp cannot move either one silently. The handshake ceiling is measured against a live initialize through the assembled ASGI stack, not read off a constant name.

Note that the SDK's LATEST_PROTOCOL_VERSION is an alias for the modern era, not for the handshake era — pinning against it alone would leave the era that current clients actually negotiate free to drift.

Update policy. When the gate fails, do not edit the constant blindly: read the spec changelog between the two revisions, verify the server still behaves, then move the constant, this section, README.de.md and CHANGELOG.md together.

MCP Primitives

The server uses all three MCP primitives:

Tools — 10 read-only tools (see above). Every search tool returns an EnergyResponse envelope: structured results plus a Markdown summary, explicit source / license attribution, and a match_type field.
Resource — energy://layers, the static catalogue of BFE GeoAdmin layers.
Prompt — energy_site_assessment, a guided location-analysis template.

Development Phase

The server is in Phase 1 (read-only). See docs/roadmap.md for the phased architecture and docs/security.md for the egress allow-list, SSRF protection and trifecta assessment.

Safety & Limits

Aspect	Details
Access	Read-only (`readOnlyHint: true`) — the server cannot modify or delete any data
Personal data	No personal data — all sources are aggregated, public infrastructure data
Rate limits	Built-in per-query caps (max 50 search results, default 5 km radius)
Timeout	20 seconds per API call
Authentication	No API keys required — both APIs are publicly accessible
Licenses	All data under open licenses via opendata.swiss (OGD)
Terms of Service	Subject to ToS of the respective data sources: GeoAdmin, opendata.swiss, SFOE/BFE

Architecture

Code

┌─────────────────┐     ┌───────────────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────────────┐
│   Claude / AI   │────▶│   Swiss Energy MCP        │────▶│  SFOE / BFE Open Data    │
│   (MCP Host)    │◀────│   (MCP Server)            │◀────│                          │
└─────────────────┘     │                           │     │  GeoAdmin REST API       │
                        │  10 Tools                 │     │  (api3.geo.admin.ch)     │
                        │  Stdio | HTTP             │     │                          │
                        │                           │     │  opendata.swiss CKAN     │
                        │  server.py (FastMCP)      │     │  (opendata.swiss)        │
                        │  api_client.py            │     └──────────────────────────┘
                        │   LV95 conversion         │
                        │   GeoAdmin queries        │
                        └───────────────────────────┘

Infrastructure Components

Component	Metaphor	Function
`api_client.py`	Switchboard	Handles HTTP requests, coordinate conversion, error handling
LV95 converter	Translator	Converts WGS84 (lat/lon) to Swiss coordinate system
`server.py`	Storefront	Exposes all 10 tools via FastMCP

Project Structure

Code

swiss-energy-mcp/
├── src/
│   └── swiss_energy_mcp/
│       ├── server.py          # FastMCP setup, lifespan, entry point
│       ├── settings.py        # Typed configuration (pydantic-settings)
│       ├── logging_config.py  # Structured JSON logging to stderr
│       ├── api_client.py      # HTTP client, egress guard, LV95 conversion
│       ├── models.py          # Pydantic input/output models
│       ├── formatting.py      # Markdown summary builders
│       ├── resources.py       # Layer-catalogue resource + prompt
│       └── tools/             # One module per tool group
│           ├── installations.py   # power, wind, hydro, PV, biogas
│           ├── places.py          # solar, Energiestadt, location profile
│           └── catalog.py         # dataset search, status
├── tests/
│   ├── test_unit.py         # Pure-unit tests (coords, formatting, egress)
│   ├── test_tools.py        # Tool tests with respx-mocked APIs
│   └── test_live.py         # Live integration tests (marked `live`)
├── docs/                    # roadmap.md, security.md
├── Dockerfile               # Multi-stage build, non-root user
├── pyproject.toml
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md          # Contribution guide (English)
├── CONTRIBUTING.de.md       # Contribution guide (German)
├── SECURITY.md              # Security policy (English)
├── SECURITY.de.md           # Security policy (German)
├── LICENSE
├── README.md                # This file (English)
└── README.de.md             # German version

Known Limitations

GeoAdmin radius search: Maximum search radius depends on layer density; very large radii may return partial results
Solar potential: Layer ch.bfe.solarenergie-eignung-daecher covers building footprints — not all roof types are classified
Energiestadt: Only municipalities with active label are included; historical entries may be incomplete
opendata.swiss CKAN: Full-text search covers metadata only, not document contents

Testing

bash

# Unit tests (no API key required)
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/ -m "not live"

# Live integration tests (network access required)
PYTHONPATH=src pytest tests/ -m "live"

Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md (🇩🇪 Deutsch)

Security

See SECURITY.md (🇩🇪 Deutsch) for the security policy and posture summary, and docs/security.md for the full technical security model.

License

MIT License — see LICENSE

Author

Hayal Oezkan · malkreide

Credits & Related Projects

Data: SFOE/BFE via GeoAdmin — Swiss Federal Office of Energy
Data: opendata.swiss — Swiss Open Government Data portal
Protocol: Model Context Protocol — Anthropic / Linux Foundation
Related: swiss-road-mobility-mcp — MCP server for Swiss mobility data
Related: zurich-opendata-mcp — MCP server for Zurich city open data
Portfolio: Swiss Public Data MCP Portfolio

Installation

Run via uv's uvx — no clone or manual install needed. Add to your MCP client config (mcpServers for Claude Desktop, Cursor and Windsurf; use a top-level servers key for VS Code in .vscode/mcp.json):

config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "swiss-energy-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "swiss-energy-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}