Vattenfall's CEO Anna Borg lists several factors that led to choosing the British company over its competitor, the American GE Vernova.
She points to the overall cost picture and the fact that Rolls-Royce will also deliver so-called SMR reactors to the UK and the Czech Republic as some deciding factors.
"It's about us having the opportunity to be part of a fairly large number of reactors with the same technology that will be developed in Europe, and thus being able to share both learning and experience about those reactors with companies in Europe," says Borg, who emphasizes that it was a holistic view that formed the basis for the decision.
The contract, which has not yet been finalized, covers three reactors. Anna Borg declined to discuss the cost at this time.
"It is not possible to say anything specific about it today."
Not in operation
Rolls-Royce's SMR reactors are not in operation anywhere in the world today. According to Anna Borg, Sweden will not be first in the chain; the Czech and British orders are ahead in the process.
When the three reactors are ready for operation, according to previous estimates sometime in the mid-2030s, they will produce 470 MW per reactor and a total of approximately 12 TWh of electricity per year. This can be compared with Sweden's total nuclear power production of around 50 TWh per year.
A conventional larger reactor, of the type already installed at Ringhals, has an output of around 1,100 MW.
The technology is not new
"This is a big step for the Swedish nuclear power program," says Minister of Energy and Enterprise Ebba Busch (KD) at the government's press conference on Monday afternoon.
Videberg Kraft has chosen the supplier and neither the size nor the technology is new, Busch points out.
Negotiations between Videberg Kraft and the government regarding, for example, state support are now in full swing, and the first reactor will be in operation in the mid-2030s, according to the previously given timetable, she promises.
Critics have pointed out that the government's investment in nuclear power will be expensive, and at the press conference Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) admitted that it "will not be an easy journey."
"It is an incredibly large investment," says Svantesson, who emphasizes a desire to work with other nations - including Germany - in the nuclear power field.
