Vattenfall Begins Feasibility Study On SMR Deployment At Ringhals

Swedish company Vattenfall (ENS Corporate Member) announced it will be starting work on a pilot study on the feasibility of deployment of at least two small modular reactor (SMR) units at the site of the Ringhals nuclear power plant.

Vattenfall said the study is focusing on Ringhals in southern Sweden because more electricity generation is expected to be needed in those areas. Two reactor units are currently in commercial operation at Ringhals-3 and -4.

Moreover, Ringhals is a suitable location for SMRs because they can replace two shutdown reactors Ringhals-1 and Ringhals-2 within the existing legislation, and there is already grid infrastructure in place that makes connecting new electricity generation simpler.

We will need all fossil-free energy sources to meet the increasing demand for electricity in Sweden. SMR is a fossil-free technology that has come a long way in recent times, so we want to investigate the conditions for building small modular reactors in the vicinity of Ringhals nuclear power plant

Vattenfall’s CEO Anna Borg said.

Work on the feasibility study is announced to start immediately and it is expected to be completed by the end of 2023 or early 2024.

Read the full Vattenfall Press Release.

Vattenfall confirmed its commitment to investigating advanced nuclear technologies, including SMRs, in its last Annual Report.

Moreover, Vattenfall is actively cooperating with the Estonian start-up energy company Fermi Energia to explore costs, supply chain, and capabilities to construct and operate SMR technology in the Baltic country.