About nuclear power and renewable energy
Dear Swedish government,
Are you looking for clean and 24/7 energy? Instead of nuclear, turn your attention to the synergic combination of biogas, hydrogen, batteries, solar and wind.
To those not living in Sweden, you should know that the Swedish government is putting on the table a plan to expand our nuclear energy generation. In a very recent study, a group of experts working for the Swedish government has estimated in 400 billion SEK ($38 billion) the plan to expand to 4-6 GW (100 000-66 500 SEK/kW or 9 500-6 300 $/kW) new nuclear power plants with a final electricity price of 800 SEK/MWh (around $78/MWh) for the 40 years of the nuclear power plant operation. 75 % from these investments should come from Swedish taxpayers.
However, there is other way, and it is to understand how this new world works and how renewable energies have come to solve our energy challenges.
Therefore, if you are craving for seasonal storage and grid balancing to those moments where the sun won’t shine or the wind won’t blow, you can use biogas and high efficient technologies (i.e. solid oxide fuel cells) to produce that electricity. In addition, you can use the biogenic CO2 to produce either further electricity or other sustainable fuels also key for the transition.
What would be the outcome instead? Much smaller facilities in the MW range size and many more in number (hundreds of them!) spread all over the country giving a much more decentralized and therefore, balance (and rational!) manner of producing constant and clean energy over the year. In addition, with a final investment and electricity price much smaller (probably half!) than the one calculated for the nuclear plan.