Sweden plans to get all of its power from renewable energy in the next 25 years, according to a regulatory official.
Last year, 57% of Sweden’s power came from renewables, including hydropower, wind, and nuclear power. The country now plans to tap into its “large potential” for onshore wind power, in order to make the country completely fossil-free by 2040 – a goal set by Sweden’s prime minister at the UN General Assembly last year.
"We are not densely populated, we have a lot of good places to put land-based large-scale wind and there is large potential for that in Sweden," Anne Vadasz Nilsson, Director General of the Swedish Energy Markets Inspectorate said.
Sweden has steadily increased its output of wind power and as it becomes more cost efficient, wind energy is set to replace nuclear energy in the country’s power system.
"Nuclear is quite an expensive energy source due to safety regulations and funding for long-term nuclear waste management among other things," said Ms Vadasz Nilsson. "Renewables, meaning large-scale wind in Sweden, on the other hand, are cheaper and cheaper to commission and to run. This together with low wholesale prices will make it less likely that new nuclear power plants will replace the remaining ones when they are phased out due to old age."
Four of the country’s 10 nuclear reactors are currently being phased out, she said, adding that the sparodic nature of wind power could be managed by teaming it with a combination of hydropower as well as interconnection with other countries.
"The base load from our [current] hydropower plants and the high degree of interconnection with neighbouring countries [...] This together with a more developed market for demand-side response will safeguard capacity even on cold winter days when the wind is not blowing," said Ms Vadasz Nilsson.
Source: independent
Photo Credit: flickr
