Up to five small modular reactors being planned for existing Ringhals site
Swedish state-owned power company Vattenfall and the industrial consortium Industrikraft have signed an agreement for joint investment and collaboration that will enable the next steps in a project to deploy new nuclear power in Sweden.
Vattenfall said in a statement that Industrikraft will become a 20% shareholder in the nuclear project company Videberg Kraft and invest SEK400m (€36m, $42m) in the project.
Vattenfall and Industrikraft, formed in June 2024 to support the expansion of Swedish non-fossil fuel electricity supply, will work on the deployment of small modular reactors (SMRs) at Vattenfall’s existing Ringhals nuclear site on the Värö Peninsula, southwest Sweden.
The agreement covers areas such as responsibilities and financing. Industrikraft will contribute resources, expertise in project management and selection of technologies.
Vattenfall said Swedish technology has a role to play in driving the development of a strong supplier cluster in Europe.
In August Vattenfall said it will proceed with US-based GE Vernova (GEV) and British company Rolls-Royce SMR as it looks to choose a potential supplier for new nuclear power plants next to Ringhals.
Vattenfall said at the time final investment decisions will be made “later in the process”.
It said both companies offer SMRs with proven technology and simplified designs that have integrated learnings from previous nuclear projects worldwide. Both use fuel for which Vattenfall has established supply chains.
GEV’s technology is the 300-MW BWRX-300. Construction of the first BWRX-300 unit is underway at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington nuclear site near Toronto in Canada.
Rolls-Royce SMR is developing a 470-MW unit. The company has been selected by the British government as the preferred bidder to develop SMRs for the UK.
Vattenfall is planning a project with either five BWRX-300 plants for a total capacity of 1,500 MW or three Rolls-Royce SMR plants for 1,410 MW.
The company also said it is already looking at the next step to build an additional 1,000 MW of SMR capacity at the Ringhals site, where two large-scale reactors are in operation and two have been permanently shut down.
The company said building a series of smaller units as opposed to single, large-scale reactors, brings clear cost advantages. SMRs require less space, need significantly fewer personnel, and lead to more manageable logistics.
The Ringhals site, where two large-scale reactors are in operation and two have been permanently shut down. Courtesy Vattenfall/Annika Ornborg.
