2 September, 2021

Vattenfall warns of stopping nuclear power following the government's decision

In the latest stage of the political battle to resolve Sweden’s long term storage of nuclear waste, Vattenfall has warned the electricity market that there may be a halt to nuclear power at the Forsmark and Ringhals reactors after 2024 or 2025 due to the government's decision on nuclear waste. In that case, a quarter of Sweden's electricity production would be removed.

There is no final repository in Sweden yet, despite the fact that nuclear power has existed since the 1970s. Swedish Nuclear Fuel Management, SKB, of which Vattenfall's is the largest owner, applied about ten years ago for a solution to the waste issue through an expanded intermediate storage and a final repository. The waste issue has been waiting for the government's decision for two years.

Last week, the government decided to only allow an extension of the intermediate storage for spent nuclear fuel without deciding anything about the final repository. But, SKB has submitted a single application to the Land and Environmental Court for an extension of the intermediate storage and for starting the final repository. Given that the government has made a decision on only part of the application means that Vattenfall's lawyers believe that it is uncertain how the court will process the application

Vattenfall says that “The possibilities to restart the reactors Forsmark 2 after the annual audit 2024 and Forsmark 3 after the annual audit 2025 and Ringhals 3 and Ringhals 4 after the annual audit 2025, are not predictable at present, according to the government's decision. We have an obligation to notify the electricity market if there is a risk to our electricity production, which we did after last week's decision.” (Svenska Dagbladet)

New stone energy storage technology trialed

Stiesdal Storage Technologies has developed GridScale energy storage system with 10 hours to 10 days capacity. Its system uses large, well-insulated steel tanks that contain several thousand tonnes of basalt pebbles, which can withstand constant thermal shock without crumbling. On a windy day, when energy is cheap, the stones are heated up to 600°C. The heat can be stored for several days, and then on a windless day, the heat can be conducted out of the tanks, through a turbine and back into the electricity grid. A tank can store 10-15,000 KWh, but loses around 45% of the power inputted.

The first installation of a 1-2MW unit will be done at Lolland in Denmark. (DR)

What we’re reading

• Finland’s forests fire up debate over EU’s strategy for going green (Financial Times) 

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