Sweden’s Vattenfall has selected two small modular reactor (SMR) designs for new nuclear capacity at the Ringhals NPP on the Värö Peninsula. Vattenfall has decided to proceed with US GE Vernova Hitachi’s BWRX-300 and the UK’s Rolls-Royce SMR.
In June 2024, Vattenfall had shortlisted Rolls-Royce SMR and GE Hitachi from six potential SMR suppliers for ongoing evaluation. Four other possible suppliers were not identified. Vattenfall also continued to investigate the construction of large-scale reactors on the site considering Westinghouse, EDF or Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (which withdrew in December 2024).
Given the conditions at the current reactor site on the Värö Peninsula, the two SMR suppliers are considered to have the best prerequisites to deliver within a reasonable timeframe and budget, Vattenfall noted. The selected suppliers 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.
“We have conducted a very thorough evaluation of the suppliers and reactors. It is very gratifying that we now can, after a process that began with 75 potential suppliers, go from four to two,” said Desirée Comstedt, Vice President and Head of New Nuclear at Vattenfall. “Building a series of smaller units brings clear cost advantages; they require less space, need significantly fewer personnel, and leads to more manageable logistics. This also increases the ability during the construction phase to find, house, and transport staff, reducing the risk of increased costs.”
Vattenfall noted that none of the four reactors evaluated had been built in Europe yet and “would therefore need to be adapted to Swedish conditions to varying degrees” and would involve learning costs so it was “positive that an SMR entails a lower investment cost” and building a fleet allowed lessons to be learned from each one’s construction. “The evaluation also showed that the selected suppliers offer a relatively lower cost of electricity.”
Vattenfall also noted that the development of both the selected technologies was progressing in projects elsewhere. Ontario Power Generation has taken a Final Investment Decision to build the first of a fleet of BWRX-300s, and the UK and the Czech Republic have selected Rolls-Royce SMR for their SMR project.
The aim is to have new nuclear capacity up and running in the early 2030s. Vattenfall is planning a project with either five BWRX-300 (GE Vernova) or three Rolls-Royce SMR reactors, which will provide a total output of around 1,500 MWe.
“This is another step on the way towards the first Swedish nuclear power construction in over 40 years,” said Vattenfall CEO & President Anna Borg. “Our goal is a successful project on the Värö Peninsula, and by that we mean that there are prerequisites to begin operations within a reasonable timeframe and budget at the site available to us. A successful project also lays the foundation for further nuclear developments. We are already looking at the next step to build additional reactors where Ringhals 1 and 2 are currently located.”
The process to enable new nuclear power will now continue. An application for state risk-sharing will be submitted and a final supplier selected. Final investment decisions will be made later in the process. This came after Sweden’s new centre-right coalition government in 2022 adopted a positive approach to nuclear energy, outlining a roadmap in November 2023 for the construction of new nuclear generating capacity. This envisages the construction of new nuclear generating capacity equivalent to at least two large-scale reactors by 2035, with up to 10 new large-scale reactors coming online by 2045.
This came after Sweden reversed its nuclear phase-out policy that was initiated in 1980. Its 1997 energy policy allowed ten reactors to operate longer than envisaged by the phase-out, but still resulted in the premature closure of the two-unit Barsebäck plant. In 2010 parliament voted to repeal this but in 2015, decisions were made to close four older reactors by 2020. Sweden’s remaining six nuclear power reactors at Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals provide about 40% of its electricity.
Vattenfall said new Swedish nuclear power will require collaboration among many stakeholders. The industry consortium Industrikraft is an initiative involving 17 leading Swedish industrial companies with which Vattenfall has had a close dialogue from the start.
“The process of constructing new nuclear reactors has taken a significant step forward, and there is now a clear and viable project on the Värö Peninsula,” said Industrikraft Chairman Tom Erixon. Industrikraft welcomes this development and will work together with Vattenfall to create the conditions for the planned joint investment in the project company. It is also crucial that there are long-term stable political conditions.”
