The Swedish prime minister has confirmed that Barsebäck 2 will not close next year. This deferral has the support of the three parties that were behind the 1997 push to close both units prematurely.
The backdown follows the admission in August of Sweden’s energy minister that closing the unit would jeopardise the supply of electricity to the south of Sweden during cold periods and would increase imports of electricity generated in fossil fuel plants, which would mean increased releases of carbon dioxide in neighbouring countries.
It has recently become clear that the closure of Barsebäck 1 at the end of last year increased CO2 emissions from Danish coal-fired plant.
