Swedish utility Vattenfall has selected Rolls-Royce SMR to supply small modular reactors for its new-build nuclear project near Ringhals, choosing the British design over GE Vernova Hitachi's BWRX-300. The decision, taken through project company Videberg Kraft, paves the way for Sweden's first new nuclear power plant in more than four decades.
Three reactors on the Varo Peninsula
Videberg Kraft, owned by Vattenfall and Industrikraft with the Swedish state due to become majority owner, plans to site three Rolls-Royce SMR units on the Varo Peninsula adjacent to the existing Ringhals plant. The project will ultimately add about 1.5 GW to the grid, with a first operating unit targeted for the mid-2030s. The selection followed a three-year process that assessed 75 different options.
"Rolls-Royce SMR is the supplier that can give Videberg Kraft the best pre-requisites for delivering a successful project," said Anna Borg, CEO of Vattenfall and a board member of Videberg Kraft. She noted the pressurised-water reactor is the same proven technology already used at Ringhals.
A standardised, factory-built fleet
The Rolls-Royce SMR is a 470 MWe design in which roughly 90% of the plant is manufactured in factory conditions as pre-fabricated, pre-tested modules, limiting on-site work mainly to assembly. Each unit is designed for at least 60 years of baseload generation. "This is a strong endorsement of our transformational approach to delivery of a standardised fleet of SMRs," said Rolls-Royce SMR CEO Chris Cholerton.
Europe's nuclear race accelerates
Sweden becomes the third European country to back Rolls-Royce SMR technology, joining the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, where utility CEZ holds a 20% stake. The award lands amid a broader European new-nuclear and supply-chain push that has featured deals such as the Rolls-Royce SMR, Skoda and Doosan pressure-vessel agreement and safety-systems work like the Paragon and NuScale protection-system contract. With state aid now available under a law that took effect in 2025, additional Swedish applications from Blykalla and Studsvik are already in the pipeline.
Reporting based on coverage from World Nuclear News, Vattenfall and Reuters.