Vattenfall planning for major investments in renewable electricity generation

In a recent bill on the future of the electricity certificate system, the Swedish Government proposed a target for the generation of electricity that qualifies for a certificate under the scheme of 17 TWh by 2016. This proposal forms the basis for a new assessment of Vattenfall’s ambitions with regard to the generation of renewable electricity in Sweden. At yesterday’s meeting (17 May), the Board decided that Vattenfall should aim to run projects that make it possible to increase the amount of renewable electricity generated by the company in Sweden by approximately 10 TWh by 2016.

The major part of the potential projects relates to wind power plants. It is estimated that measures in hydro power plants can contribute 1 to 2 TWh, while biofuel projects can contribute almost 0.5 TWh. The level of ambition now adopted by the Board entails making a major investment in the generation of electricity using renewable sources of energy. In total, this investment will be in the range of SEK 40 billion and will require work corresponding to up to 30 000 man years. Vattenfall’s President and CEO, Lars G. Josefsson, points out that the resulting additional 10 TWh should be seen in relation to the amount of electricity that Vattenfall currently generates in the Nordic region, which amounted to 90 TWh in 2005. An important precondition for the implementation of the projects is that parliament approves the support system, as it is estimated that it will only be possible to realise some of the hydro power projects on a commercial basis without electricity certificates. Implementation is also limited in terms of time by protracted permit application processes, but Vattenfall will make every effort to accelerate this process as much as possible. Vattenfall’s investment also means that parts of the transmission network must be reinforced, a task which belongs to the field of responsibility of the transmission net operator Svenska Kraftnät. For further information, please contact: Göran Lundgren, Head of Generation Nordic, telephone: +46 (0)8-739 57 79. Erik von Hofsten, Head of Media Relations Nordic, telephone: +46 (0)70-559 54 84. Martin May, Vice President Media Relations, telephone: +46-(0)8-739 52 70. From Vattenfall's Press Office, telephone: +46 (0)8-739 50 10.