Plan is for two large-scale reactors at Barseback site near Malmo
Energy company Nordic Baseload Power has applied for financial support to build two large-scale nuclear reactors at Barseback, close to Malmo in southern Sweden, the Swedish government said on 16 June.
The application is for two reactors with a combined output of 2,500 MW, equivalent to the annual consumption for up to two million households.
The Barseback site has two 600-MW boiling water reactor nuclear plants that were permanently shut down in 1999 and 2005 and are being decommissioned.
“Sweden needs more stable electricity production,” Niklas Wykman, deputy minister for finance, said in a statement. “It is therefore positive that interest in investing in new nuclear power continues to be high.”
The application is the fourth received by the government for new nuclear power plants.
In December Videberg Kraft submitted an application to support proposals for either five GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors or three Rolls-Royce SMR small modular reaqctors (SMRs) to provide about 1,500 MW capacity at the existing Ringhals nuclear site on the Värö Peninsula.
Videberg Kraft is a project company owned by state utility Vattenfall and backed by a number of industrial companies via the Industrikraft consortium.
Videberg Kraft has since chosen Rolls-Royce SMR to supply the reactor technology for the facility.
In June, Swedish advanced reactor company Blykalla submitted an application for government financing for an advanced nuclear reactor park in Norrsundet, two hours north of Stockholm.
Earlier this week, Swedish nuclear technology company Studsvik applied to the government for state support to develop up to 1,400 MW of new nuclear capacity using SMRs.
Sweden has six large-scale reactor units in commercial operation at three sites: Forsmark, Oskarshamn and Ringhals. According to International Atomic Energy Agency data, nuclear energy provided 29% of the country’s electricity generation in 2024.
Sweden’s centre-right government made new nuclear power one of its key pledges during campaigning for a general election in 2022. The move reverses a decades-long policy to shut down the country’s ageing reactors and replacing them with renewable energy. Sweden previously operated 12 commercial reactors, but permanently shut down six due to economic factors and shifting political goals.
The government wants to attract more players to build new nuclear in the country by streamlining its licensing process and opening up its coastline to build capacity in the sector.
