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ENERGY

Swedish energy prices close to record high

A mix of cold weather, weak winds, switched-off nuclear reactors and icy rivers has pushed energy prices close to record levels set earlier this year.

Published: 12 December 2022 16:22 CET
Swedish energy prices close to record high
The Karlshamn oil-burning power plant in August 2022. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Frozen rivers in the north of Sweden are affecting hydropower, weak winds are putting a damper on wind energy and the cold weather is increasing demand on Sweden’s energy market.

As if that wasn’t enough, three of Sweden’s six nuclear power plants were either switched off or running on low effect this weekend, which has led to Sweden’s oil-burning power plant in Karlshamn being switched on on Monday morning.

Energy prices in the two energy zones in northern Sweden went up to an average of 4:19 kronor per kilowatt hour on Tuesday, according to Nord Pool energy market. That’s just 8 öre lower than the historic record set on December 1st.

At the same time, daily prices in the two energy zones in southern Sweden have also risen, peaking at 4:79 kronor per kilowatt hour. For comparison, the highest prices reported in these areas is 5:18 kronor in energy zone 3 and 5:77 kronor in energy zone 4.

On top of these prices set by Nord Pool, users must pay additional fees to the energy company, energy taxes, VAT and energy network fees. Prices for individual households and companies vary dramatically, as the final energy bill is based on which agreement you have, which can vary down to the hourly level, or be fixed for a number of years.

During the high-demand hours in the morning and late afternoon, hourly prices in southern Sweden hit a high of 7:25 kronor per kilowatt hour, with northern Sweden hitting a high of 5:50 kronor per kilowatt hour.

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ENERGY

Sweden plans for new nuclear reactor in next decade

Swedish utility Vattenfall said Monday it was aiming to put a new nuclear reactor into commission in the first half of the 2030s, as part of Sweden's decision to reinvest in the energy source.

Published: 19 February 2024 15:33 CET
Sweden plans for new nuclear reactor in next decade

In June 2022, the state-owned company launched a pilot study into the construction of at least two small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Ringhals
nuclear power station in the southwest of the country.

“We have concluded that there are good conditions for building new nuclear power on the Varo peninsula, but that it is too early to choose the type of
reactor,” Desiree Comstedt, vice president of New Nuclear at Vattenfall, said in a statement. “The ambition to have a first reactor in operation by the first half of the 2030s remains.”

In November, Sweden’s coalition government presented plans to massively ramp up nuclear energy in the country. The government said it wanted to increase production equivalent to two nuclear reactors by 2035, with a “massive expansion” to follow by 2045.

Vattenfall said it had begun acquiring real estate in the area where it wants to build the reactors, and would initiate a dialogue with local stakeholders before applying for environmental permits. In the conclusions of its study, the company said the Ringhals location was suitable for new nuclear power, albeit with some space limitations due to nearby nature reserves.

Comstedt said the Varo peninsula area where the Ringhals nuclear power station is located can accommodate three to five SMR reactors but “the nature
reserve limits additional capacity”.

She added that Vattenfall was looking into the potential consequences of the environmental impact on the nature reserves, as Vattenfall would ideally
like to build up even more capacity in the area. SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of up to 300
megawatts of electricity per unit, which is about one-third of the generating capacity of a traditional nuclear power reactor.

They are relatively simple to build, as their systems and components can be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation,
which also makes them more affordable than large power reactors. The Scandinavian country voted in a 1980 non-binding referendum to phase
out nuclear power.

Since then, Sweden has shut down six of its 12 reactors and the remaining ones, at three nuclear power plants, generate about 30 percent of the
electricity used in the country today. In 2016, a broad political majority agreed to extend nuclear power for the forseeable future, paving the way for new reactors to be built to replace the ageing ones at the end of their lifespans.

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