Swedish Enterprise troubled reactor closure – New Technology

The energy policy forces the government decommissioning of nuclear power without knowing what the consequences will be – and one of the consequences is that Vattenfall close two reactors prematurely. It says employers’ organization Confederation of Swedish Enterprise energy expert.

On Tuesday, Vattenfall announced that the closure of Ringhals 1 and 2 early. Instead of 2025 as was previously said reactors will likely be shut down between 2018 and 2020.

The reason is that electricity prices may decline, while production costs increase .

– From Vattenfall’s perspective, I understand completely how they think, it is of course economically viable. But it feels that the government deliberately made it impossible for nuclear power to remain profitable, says Maria Suner Fleming, energy expert at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

There is primarily the government’s decision to raise output tax on nuclear energy and at the same time raise the ambition of the certificate system, which provides an additional income to the producers of renewable energy, like Maria Suner Fleming is critical.

– What you do is to press the power generation in the electricity market which is not really required. Then you get an artificial oversupply of electricity that have created artificially low prices, she said.

Because certificates are subsidized renewable electricity thereby creating distortions in the energy market, believes Maria Suner Fleming. And today’s energy policy operates on an economic decommissioning of nuclear power, she says.

– The government is doing now is to put Sweden in a forced nuclear decommissioning situation that we do not really know the consequences of. If we have three reactors shut down around 2018 we will have a very tight electricity supply situation in southern Sweden during the winter months, she says.

But the distortions in the energy market’s not just the current government’s fault?

– No, although previous governments have created this. Power Tax was instituted by the Alliance government in its time, and Alliance government chose to go ahead with the certificate system, so there is a shared political responsibility.

Speaking certificate system, it is not good that Sweden is trying to convert to more renewable electricity generation?

– It is great with renewable electricity, but so far we have decided that nuclear power has a role in the future. The challenge is to ensure that you have electricity this year all hours, not just when the weather is favorable, and the challenge has not quite solved yet, says Maria Suner Fleming.

Att force the decommissioning of nuclear power even though the reactors can still be operated for a few years thinks she is capital destruction.

What are the consequences of Waterfall close two reactors?

– Above all, increases uncertainty about the future electricity supply. Industrial customers can feel that energy policy is no longer as secure as it has been. If a company faces new investment or reinvestment, and wondering if it’s facilities in Sweden or the USA to bet on, so it looks in the current state like the United States have lower prices than Sweden will be able to have in the future.

Will the closure that could lead to a real lack of electricity?

- The risk is if the trend continues, if more nuclear power plants decide to close. Southern Sweden has a shortage of production today, says Maria Suner Fleming.

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