Business Area Power Generation

The Power Generation operating segment comprises the Generation and Markets business areas.

The Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden.

Generation produced a total of 73.5 TWh (80.1) of electricity in 2023 in our hydro and nuclear power plants across the Nordics. Vattenfall’s total installed hydro power capacity of 8,800 MW generated 36.1 TWh (40.5) of electricity. At year-end, Vattenfall’s Nordic reservoir levels were at 56 per cent (59 per cent), which is one per centage point below normal. The combined installed capacity of nuclear power was 5,500 MW and generation totalled 37.4 TWh (39.6).

Business Area Markets maximises the value of Vattenfall's portfolio by optimising and dispatching, hedging, and sourcing for Vattenfall's assets, third-party assets, and sales positions.

Strategy and targets

Vattenfall’s ambition is to be a world leader in the operation of both nuclear and hydro power with high safety and sustainability standards as well as cost-efficient fossil-free electricity production with high availability. The safe decommissioning of our closed nuclear reactors is also a core part of our responsibilities, including the feasibility of the full nuclear power cycle demonstrated when the radioactive waste and spent fuel is placed in final repositories.

Flexibility is essential to adapt to market changes in power generation and ancillary services and to maximise the value of our assets, but also to maximise the input of renewable electricity into the grid. Vattenfall is developing algorithms to reach the speed required to profitably manage intermittent electricity generation and the new requirements being implemented in the balancing markets in EU countries.

The Markets business area provides Vattenfall’s access to the wholesale market and has a competitive edge in optimising assets, sourcing, and trading. As part of these activities, we capture value from flexibility, helping to stabilise Vattenfall’s results in the face of further planned renewables build-out. We empower fossil freedom for customers, for example by sourcing Guarantees of Origin and biomethane.

Key data

^{1. Operating profit excluding items affecting comparability.
2 The value has been adjusted compared with information previously published in Vattenfall’s financial reports, see note 1 Accounting policies, risks and uncertainties in the Annual and sustainability report.}