The government will present funding today • “Risk that the cost of the state will be very high”
Today, the government presents the nuclear power bill. It is expected to contain a model for how new nuclear power should be financed through state subsidies. At the same time, a lot is already speaking that the government’s schedule is cracking and no nuclear construction will be started this term.
Several ministers in the government have previously said that a first shovel for Swedish nuclear power will be taken even before the election next year. But those commitments do not seem to hold, says assessors in the industry. A long process remains before any new nuclear power plant can be built in Sweden.
– First, you have to agree with the person who may want to build the reactors about exactly how much compensation they should receive and who will take what risks. Then the aid that the state provides must be approved by the EU.
– For the Czech Republic, the approval process took over two years so it looks difficult to be completed for next year’s elections, says Markus Wråke, CEO of Energiforsk, a research and knowledge organization owned by various industry organizations together with state Swedish power networks.
State guarantees sum per kilowatt
Government’s nuclear power bill, which is presented later today is expected to contain a model where the state promises that nuclear power companies, if they build, will receive a guaranteed sum per kilowatt hour regardless of how the electricity market price will develop in the coming years.
The guaranteed sum would provide incentives to speed up construction, but at the same time risk being expensive for taxpayers, Markus Wråke assesses Energiforsk.
– The fact that the state takes part of the risk is a strong positive signal that could free up investments that otherwise would not have come to fruition. On the other hand, there is, of course, a risk that the cost of the state will be very high. If there is a cost then we are likely to be taxpayers to a large extent, he says.