So far, one application has been received to build a new nuclear power plant. The nuclear company Kärnfull Next (Refirm Målma AB) announced this week that it wants to set up between four and six small reactors in Valdemarsvik. Other players have plans for new nuclear power plants in Gävle and at Ringhals.
Although both Valdemarsvik and Gävle are located a little beyond the "electrical thoroughfares", connecting new power plants there would require new, high-capacity lines.
New backbone networks
"Yes, we will need new main grids," says Christian Sjölander, CEO of Kärnfull Next, explaining that nuclear power plants require really large power lines of 400 kilovolts, for which Svenska Kraftnät is responsible.
In Valdemarsvik, Eon has the regional network. Eon receives the application for line capacity from Kärnfull Next and applies to Svenska Kraftnät for additional capacity.
Mats Tullgren, head of regional networks at Eon, explains that there are no ready-made lines for all the new power that is planned, and that it is important to build power plants as close to trunk lines as possible. Otherwise, it will be like building a railway station where there are no tracks yet.
"These are long permit times. We have examples that have taken 15 years," says Mats Tullgren.
He says that attempts have been made to shorten processing times and simplify processes, but so far without much success.
Eight years
Daniel Gustafsson, responsible for network planning at Svenska Kraftnät, also sees that it is most practical to locate new nuclear power plants where there is already capacity in the transmission network. But more electricity production in southern Sweden is needed, he notes, and that requires some new capacity. If everything goes really well, new main lines can be built in eight years, he says.
"But it will require that the whole of society wants this," says Daniel Gustafsson.
Vattenfall has plans for new nuclear capacity at the Ringhals nuclear power plant on the west coast. It is a good location, according to Vattenfall, because there is both capacity in the transmission network and other infrastructure.
The question is how smart it is to build a new nuclear power plant where a lot of new lines are required. Christian Sjölander explains that power plants will probably be built at all the places where there is existing nuclear power.
"We also need new places. In a new world, centralized production is not good," says Christian Sjölander.
Facts: New power lines
The state-owned Swedish Power Company is responsible for the national grids. These are larger lines that carry electricity from the power plants to the regional grids.
Regional electricity network companies are responsible for the regional networks.
Building power lines requires both a permit and an agreement with landowners.
A line concession is a permit from the Energy Market Inspectorate that can be appealed in three instances.
The electricity company also needs to reach an agreement with the landowners affected. If they do not agree to the company using their land, the National Land Survey can decide on the right of way. This decision can also be appealed in three instances.
Source: Eon, Swedish Power Grid
