Important news for nuclear power and wind power

More efficient permit assessments for nuclear power

In order to make permit assessments for nuclear power reactors more efficient, measures proposed by Kärnkraftsprövningsutredningen [the Nuclear Energy Review Inquiry] in its interim report entitled “Ny kärnkraft i Sverige – effektivare tillståndsprövning och ändamålsenliga avgifter (SOU 2025:7)” [New nuclear power in Sweden – more efficient permit assessments and appropriate fees] include a clearer division between assessments under the Environmental Code and the Nuclear Activities Act as well as the introduction of voluntary elements such as preparatory discussions and advance notices. There is also a proposal for a new Act on resolutions in principle, which is intended to establish the government’s standpoint earlier in the process. The Inquiry’s review of the system for application and review fees resulted in the proposal, as an adaptation to smaller reactors, to introduce differentiated charging of fees for new reactors based on the thermal power of the reactor. These proposals are currently being distributed for consultation.

The work of the Nuclear Energy Review Inquiry now continues with an analysis of the need for adaptation and development of the existing nuclear waste programme for management of waste from new reactors. The results of the analysis will be reported in August 2025. In parallel with this, an inquiry is in progress that will produce a proposal for a new, more modern Nuclear Activities Act by supplementing and updating the Nuclear Activities Act Inquiry’s proposal from 2019. Consultation responses to the proposals in the memorandum entitled Financing and risk-sharing in investments in new nuclear energy have already been prepared.

Facilitating uranium extraction

The memorandum entitled To re-facilitate uranium extraction, which is currently being distributed for consultation, includes a proposal by the government for abolition of the seven-year-old ban on extraction of uranium in the Swedish Environmental Code and for uranium to once again be classified as a so-called “concession mineral” under the Minerals Act. The proposal also aims to make mining of critical metals and minerals easier and to make investigations of the bedrock more efficient.

Auction system for offshore wind power

Just over a month after the government decided not to grant permits for 13 planned wind farms in the Baltic Sea, the Inquiry on Offshore Wind Power presented the report entitled Vindkraft i havet – En övergång till ett auktionssystem (SOU 2024:89) [Offshore wind power – A transition to an auction system]. The proposal for Sweden to switch to an auction system for offshore wind power is put forward in order to make the system for environmental assessment of offshore wind power clearer and more efficient. The idea of this system is to enable the state to identify, at an early stage, maritime areas in which it is appropriate and desirable to build wind power. The hope is that the winning designer can be given an exclusive right to establish wind power in an area, which would significantly reduce current permit risks. These proposals have now also being distributed for consultation.