Sweden Needs to Treble Nuclear Power as Electricity Demand Soars

Sweden said it needs to treble nuclear power capacity over the next couple of decades to meet a surge in electricity demand.

(Bloomberg) — Sweden said it needs to treble nuclear power capacity over the next couple of decades to meet a surge in electricity demand.

At least 10 new conventional reactors need to be built by 2045, Romina Pourmokhtari, the nation’s climate and energy minister, said in a statement on Wednesday. The biggest Nordic nation has six reactors in operation today.

Sweden needs all the new power capacity it can get as demand is poised to double in the next few decades amid the electrification of industries and transportation. New nuclear plants are at the heart of the government’s strategy to expand power output.

Read more: Swedish Government Wants More Nuclear Power as Opposition Eases

Vattenfall AB and Finland’s Fortum Oyj are studying building small modular reactors that could come online at some point in the first half of next decade. However, German utility Uniper SE, which operates Sweden’s biggest reactor, earlier this month dealt a blow to the government’s ambitions by saying it had no plans to invest further in the technology.

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