Nuclear power is central to Sweden’s new climate action plan. – Without energy policy, you have no climate policy, says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Energy and Industry Minister Ebba Busch are betting heavily on nuclear power to ensure enough power to achieve the country’s ambitious goal of becoming climate neutral as early as 2045. Photo: Henrik Montgomery / TT / NTBPublished: Published:
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On Thursday, the Swedish government presented a climate handling plan with around 70 suggestions to measures.
Among other things, petrol and diesel are to be phased out, and Sweden is to introduce the EU’s new emissions trading system ETS 2 as early as 2027, which is the earliest possible date.
The plan also presents the development of large amounts of new power as a central prerequisite for reaching the climate goals.
Nuclear power will be central, according to the government.
– Without energy policy, you have no climate policy. It’s almost that simple, says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on one press conference Thursday.
– Then all fossil-free energy types are important, but in Sweden developed nuclear power is the most important measure if we are to double electricity production and it is to be completely fossil-free, he says.
He believes that more electricity is needed to replace fossil energy and make Sweden climate neutral already by 2045. The government has plans to double electricity production to 300 terawatt hours (TWh) annually.
Today, nuclear power accounts for around 30 per cent of Sweden’s electricity production, or around 50 terawatt hours (TWh) annually. Wind power accounts for 19 per cent, or about 33 TWh annually, but this is expected to increase to 52 TWh annually by 2026.
It is the parties Christian Democrats, Liberals, Moderates and Sweden Democrats that stand behind the climate action plan.
The most important measures in the plan:
I the action plan for climate, the Swedish government lists these assumptions:
- ensure access to fossil-free electricity, including more nuclear power, charging infrastructure and power grids to be able to secure the connection of new fossil-free facilities, charging electric vehicles and meet the demand for fossil-free electricity and power across the country
- shorten licensing processes and make them more predictable and efficient
- ensure enough labor with the right skills
- ensure sustainable access to critical raw materials, batteries, sustainable biomass and fossil-free fuels
- increase recycling and reuse
- put a price on emissions of greenhouse gases
- create acceptance for climate policy instruments
- contribute to efficient access to capital for, among other things, technology development
- create schemes that promote negative emissions, including energy production from biological material combined with capture and storage of CO₂
Sea view
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– A new era with strong development
Sweden has a more ambitious goal for its climate policy than other European countries.
– Sweden will therefore reach net zero emissions in 2045, five years before everyone else. In order to achieve this, we completely agree that the decisive part of achieving this is to phase out fossil fuels, and that the EU’s climate policy must govern us even more harshly, says Energy and Industry Minister Ebba Busch at the press conference on Thursday.
She also points out that the green shift will require large amounts of electricity.
– We need a new era with a strong development of fossil-free electricity so that we can enter a new era of green transformation of the industry, she says.
However, new nuclear power will require significant guarantees from the state. The government says it will enter into an arrangement where it shares the risk of developing new nuclear power.
“Nowhere in the world is new nuclear power being built without a clear government commitment that compensates for the financial risk this type of project entails”, writes the government in the action plan.
This is an illustration of how Sweden’s emission cuts can take place until 2045. Photo: Sweden’s climate action plan / Naturvårdsverket
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– Completely wrong development
Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari believes Sweden has been on the wrong track when it comes to nuclear power. The country has recently taken several measures to ensure new development.
– To reach all the way to net zero, i.e. to eliminate emissions and create a fossil-free society, large amounts of clean electricity are required. We must double power production until 2045 to carry out the changeover, says Pourmokhtari at the press conference.
– At the same time that the needs are enormous, Sweden has gone from 12 nuclear reactors to six. It is completely the wrong development if you want to meet the climate goals. Nuclear power is also a prerequisite for being able to connect more renewable forms of power, such as wind and solar, she says.
Several power plants have been shut down. The owners of the Oskarshamn 1 and 2 and Ringhals 1 and 2 nuclear power plants decided in 2015 that they should be decommissioned earlier than planned. Oskarshamn 1 was decommissioned in 2017, while Ringhals 2 was decommissioned in 2010 and Ringhals 1 in 2020, according to the action plan.
Sweden’s climate and environment minister Romina Pourmokhtari. Photo: JONAS EKSTROMER / AFP / NTBNTNU rector resigns after controversy over nuclear power
Wants broad popular support
The Swedish government lays down some principles as a basis for climate policy. They are particularly about people not having to struggle financially because of the policy.
– Sweden must reduce emissions and at the same time ensure competitiveness in the Swedish economy and growing prosperity, says Kristersson.
– The transition in Sweden must take place in a socially sustainable way, both for people’s jobs and the economy. Climate policy must both be rooted in science, but also have a broad popular change in order to be implemented in a good way, he says.
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The Green Party announces motion of no confidence
However, the opposition is critical of the action plan, and believes it does not go far enough.
The Swedish Green Party announces a motion of no confidence in the climate minister, because they believe the plan will not reduce emissions.
– The Green Party has no confidence in a climate minister who shock-increases emissions, says spokesman Danieln Helldén in the Green Party, according to The evening paper.
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2023-12-21 15:49:02
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