TT gets a chat with both Vattenfall and Fortum (the latter in writing) about the consequences of the government investigator Mats Dillén's model for state financing.
Is this enough?
We have just taken part in this investigation in its entirety. It's a bit too early for me to answer whether it's enough. We need to get further analysis, says Desirée Comstedt, head of new nuclear power at Vattenfall.
80 öre against one krona
About the price guarantee level of 80 öre per kilowatt-hour (kWh) that nuclear power owners are guaranteed even if the market price is lower, she says:
It will be a consequence of the project costs. So we can think it's a bit too early to establish exact levels now.
She has previously said that Vattenfall's approximate cost of producing new nuclear power would be around one krona/kWh.
How would that fit with the guaranteed level of 80 öre?
Yes, as I said, we think it can be a bit too early to establish exact levels, says Comstedt.
Important to support wind power
She does not see that this proposal would worsen the competition for other electricity production, such as wind power.
But we also see ahead that the state has an important role in enabling the expansion of large-scale wind power, she says.
For if wind power is not expanded further, the electricity-intensive industry will move elsewhere, and then more nuclear power will not be needed.
So everything is connected and interdependent. But the important thing when you create a model is that you don't do it at the expense of another power source. And I don't see that this model does.
Fortum
Even the Finnish energy giant Fortum gives a thumbs up.
"The financing framework that Mats Dillén proposes is a welcome step forward to enable new nuclear power in Sweden. When the nuclear power owner, the state, and customers share both profits and risks, the financing cost decreases significantly, which is the largest cost in a nuclear power project", says Jesper Marklund, responsible for business development of new nuclear power at Fortum Sweden, in a written comment to TT.
Fortum is currently conducting a feasibility study of new nuclear power in both Sweden and Finland. Vattenfall has come a bit further in its plans.