According to a shareholders' agreement, the state will become the majority owner of Videberg Kraft, which will build new reactors on the Värö Peninsula outside Varberg, where the Ringhals nuclear power plant is located.
An agreement has also been reached on a large support package that allows large capital injections and multi-billion-krona loans.
Now it is completely clear - Sweden is building new nuclear power, says Minister of Energy and Industry Ebba Busch (KD) at a press conference in Almedalen.
To be approved by the EU
However, the arrangement must be approved by the European Commission to ensure that it does not violate state aid rules. This review is not expected to be completed until autumn 2027. At the same time, Videberg Kraft will complete negotiations with subcontractors, such as British Rolls-Royce.
Only when this is in place will the transaction be completed, making the state a 60 percent owner of Videberg Kraft. The shares will be purchased by Vattenfall, which will thereby reduce its ownership from 80 to 20 percent, while the industrial consortium Industrikraft will retain its 20 percent.
In a couple of weeks we can submit this to the EU, says Minister of Financial Markets Niklas Wykman (M).
The plan is for the three small modular reactors - with a total output of 1,410 megawatts - to be operational in the mid-2030s, according to SD's party secretary Mattias Bäckström Johansson.
It is unclear when the first physical groundbreaking can take place, but according to Ulf Kristersson, it can happen after the green light from the EU.
The government does not say how much the support for new nuclear power will cost the state, citing commercial confidentiality.
The Prime Minister also warns that the Green Party would force an S government to tear up the agreement. It will cost, according to Kristersson, but he does not say how much.
Counting on support
According to Wykman, the government is counting on support from the Social Democrats and says it has kept the party informed about how things are going.
However, S has not seen the agreement, points out the party's energy policy spokesperson Fredrik Olovsson. He wonders how large the state support will be.
How many tens of billions are involved and what prices will be guaranteed, which Swedish electricity users will then pay for? We don't know that today, he says.
When asked if S is prepared to terminate the agreement, he replies:
Our starting point is not to tear things apart. Our starting point is to build a cheap electricity system and this project could be part of that. But it is not the whole that is needed.
At Thursday's meeting, the government approved a shareholder agreement with Videberg Kraft (owned by Vattenfall and Industrikraft in Sweden) and a share transfer agreement with Vattenfall. The agreements are in line with authorization from the Riksdag.
The agreements will give Videberg Kraft a state capital injection of 1.8 billion SEK in exchange for 60 percent of the shares - a transaction that will only be made when the agreement on deliveries from reactor manufacturer Rolls-Royce is complete and if the EU Commission approves the arrangement in a review according to state aid rules.
The government has also approved a framework for potential capital injections of up to SEK 34.3 billion, plus potential multi-billion SEK loans for the investment in the new reactors at Ringhals.
In addition to Videberg Kraft, three other companies have applied for state support to build new nuclear power: Blykalla outside Gävle, Studsvik in Nyköping and Valdemarsvik, and Nordic Baseload Powers in Barsebäck. Those negotiations have not yet started.
Source: Government
