Solar growing faster than expected in Sweden

The Swedish Energy Agency has said it expects solar-powered electricity to surge in the 2018-22 period alongside a predicted rise in wind power output.

The agency this week predicted solar generation of 400 GWh in 2018 would soar to 1.7 TWh in two years’ time, with output from dominant renewable power source wind rising from 16.6 TWh to 38 TWh in the same period. However, the agency noted its outlook did not consider the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the global economy.

The total supply of electricity generated in Sweden is expected to fall from 551 TWh last year to 526 TWh in 2022, mainly thanks to reduced production from nuclear power plants, the agency said.

Supply falls

Electricity supply to residential and commercial customers will fall by 500 GWh to 146 TWh in 2022 while supply to industrial customers is expected to have fallen from 142 TWh in 2018 to 141 TWh last year and is forecast to rise again, to 142 TWh, in 2022.

Swedish utility Vattenfall shut its Ringhals 2 nuclear reactor in southwestern Sweden in late December. The Ringhals 1 reactor is scheduled to be decommissioned at the end of this year. Ringhals 3 and 4 will be kept in operation until the 2040s.

Sweden had 411 MW of solar generation capacity at the end of 2018, according to Swedish Energy Agency figures. Last year, the government decided to ramp up the budget for its residential and commercial solar rebate program, from SEK736 million ($75.6 million) to SEK1.2 billion.

This copy was amended on 18/03/20 to replace the statement electricity “demand” would fall because of the nuclear shutdown to the statement electricity “supply” is expected to reduce.