The share of thermal power production in Sweden will be negligible by 2030
GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Sweden Power Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2021 – Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape’, discusses the power market structure in Sweden and provides historical and forecast figures for capacity, production and consumption up to 2030. Detailed analysis of the country regulatory structure for the electricity market, competitive landscape and a list of major power plants are provided. The report also provides a snapshot of the power sector in the country on broad parameters of macroeconomics, security of supply, production infrastructure, transmission and distribution infrastructure, electricity import and export scenario, degree of competition, regulatory scenario and future potential. An analysis of the business in the country’s power sector is also included in the report.
Sweden became the third European country after Austria and Belgium to complete the decommissioning of coal power. The country decommissioned the last coal-fired plant in April 2020. With the decommissioning of coal power and rapid decommissioning of several oil and gas-fired plants, the share of thermal power in Sweden’s production mix is expected to fall to 0.5% by 2030. carbon dioxide emissions. From 3.2 GW 2020, the cumulative thermal power capacity is expected to decrease to 1.8 GW in 2030, and decrease by a negative CAGR of 5.6% from 2020 to 2030.
Värmekraft has never had a major share in Sweden’s power mix. The country has mostly relied on hydropower and nuclear power production to meet its power needs over the past two decades. As a party to the Powering Past Coal Alliance, a group of many countries, cities, regions and organizations that aim to accelerate the phasing out of coal power, Sweden was obliged to accelerate the phasing out of coal power. The country was able to implement this decommissioning quickly as it has never had a coal power capacity of more than 1 GW since 2000. This decommissioning of coal and the decommissioning of oil and gas fired plants makes it fully possible for the country to achieve its goal of 100% electricity production from renewable energy sources by 2040.
The Swedish power sector is facing the challenge of a lack of transmission networks to supply electricity. The country does not face any problems with power production because it has a large wind power capacity to generate power during peak demand. However, a majority of the power production sources are in the northern part of the country. There is a lack of networks for power transmission from north to south. The country’s state transmission network company, Svenska Kraftnät, will play a major role in the expansion of the transmission networks in the country. At the same time, the country can also ensure the privatization of the transmission sector to enable rapid growth.
In 2020, Sweden’s primary power production was hydropower, which contributed 44.6% of total production. This was followed by nuclear power, which had a share of 29.7%. Although renewable energy has the dominant share of the total installed capacity, 39.2%, in the power generation mix, renewable energy contributes to a share of only 24.6%.
Sweden is connected to the electricity grids in Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Germany. During periods of high load demand, for example during cold winter days, electricity is imported from Norway and to a lesser extent from Denmark. Most of Norway’s production comes from hydropower, while Denmark uses wind for power production. At other times, Sweden exports electricity, with the largest share of exports to Finland. Sweden is a net exporter of electricity.