Vattenfall welcomes report on risk-sharing model for new nuclear

In a statement, Vattenfall welcomes the report's proposal for a risk-sharing model for new nuclear power, which has now been presented, and looks forward to a dialogue with the office that is now to be set up by the government, to further develop the model.

“We share the investigator's view that the state has a clear role in financing new nuclear power. New nuclear power, like other key infrastructure projects, has major socio-economic benefits for Sweden, but it will be difficult for an individual company to sustain itself. It is important that Sweden, as well as other countries investing in nuclear power, now clarifies this connection.

The risks that government investigator Mats Dillén points out are precisely those that need to be managed, i.e. the design risk, the market risk, the regulatory risks and the programme risk. Guaranteeing revenues when a reactor is commissioned through Contracts for Difference, as proposed by the investigator, is a reasonable way to reduce market risk. The levels at which these contracts should be set will depend on the cost of the project. We therefore consider it a little premature to set exact levels.

It is unclear to us how the so-called construction risk, risks linked to the planning and implementation of the actual power plant construction, should be handled in the model and we will now analyse this in more detail. We know for certain that the first reactors will be more expensive than the next ones and here the state needs to play an important role. What we see missing at first glance is also how the state will guarantee that the entire programme of 4-6 GW proposed by the investigator is actually built. As the investigator mentioned, this is crucial if the costs of e.g. final repositories are to be reasonable.

We agree that all fossil-free sources of energy will be needed for Sweden to reach the 300 TWh by 2045, as set by the Swedish Parliament. In the short term, wind power is needed to meet the increased needs of the industry, but it is an insurance policy for a state to invest in nuclear power, since we do not currently know how the costs of different types of power will develop.

Vattenfall will now analyse the model in more detail and looks forward to it being made concrete in the government's continued work. We also look forward to a continued dialogue.”

Government investigator Mats Dillén presented his report at a press conference on Monday, 12 August.