A majority of Swedes want their nuclear power stations to produce energy until their operational lifespan ends, and not be shut down early, a poll published on Tuesday showed.
High global oil prices and EU carbon dioxide emissions regulations are leading to high electricity prices and a surge in investment in wind power in Sweden.
The Swedish government will pay state-owned energy group Vattenfall 4.1 billion kronor (500 million dollars, 426 million euros) in compensation for the closure of a nuclear reactor earlier this year, Vattenfall said on Thursday.
For the first time ever, the Swedish government is to release supplies of petrol from its own reserves. The decision, expected on Thursday, is a direct consequence of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the southern USA almost three weeks ago.
Sweden shut down its Barsebäck 2 nuclear reactor at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday, the second reactor to be taken out of service in the country since 1999. The move ends almost thirty years of electricity production at the plant.
Swedish power company Vattenfall said on Tuesday that it is seeking to build Northern Europe's biggest wind turbine park in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Germany.
Stockholm police have arrested a man in connection with the discovery of three suspected bombs in the oil harbour in Södertälje, 40km south west of Stockholm.
Swedish energy company Vattenfall is to build the world's first pilot plant for a coal-fired power station which does not release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
<i>(AFX)</i> Swedish prime minister Göran Persson, who is chairing a two-day OECD meeting in Paris, said ministers have expressed concern about volatile oil prices.
The Swedish environmental protection group has put forward a proposal on how to ensure that households and companies don't waste energy, according to an article in DN on Thursday.
"Nuclear power has run out of steam." That was prime minister Göran Persson's conclusion earlier this month when the government announced the decommissioning next year of the Barsebäck 2 nuclear plant. A survey has now shown that the Swedish people want to keep nuclear power. But apparently the government isn't out of step with the people, it's the people who are out of step with the government.
The government, with the backing of the Social Democrats and the Left Party, has approved plans to shut down Barsebäck 2, a nuclear power plant just outside Malmö.
Observant readers may have noticed that The Local wasn't working for four hours last Friday afternoon. Thankfully it was somebody else's fault and the cost, to be frank, was measurable in frowns rather than crowns.
Rising petrol prices, more cars and slower roads. The papers were jammed with car stories this week and there wasn't much good news for drivers - including the Prime Minister.
Svenska Dagbladet was full of energy this week. On Tuesday it was the atomic sort, with the news of increasing support for nuclear power, while Wednesday's edition reported that "Swedes want to invest more in solar energy".
