Electricity in Sweden - statistics & facts
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Home to around 10 million people and covering an area of some 450,000 km², Sweden is a sparsely populated country located in Northern Europe. Despite its humble population, the nation is one of the largest electricity consumers in Europe. The Scandinavian country also stands out globally for having one of the cleanest power supplies, dominated by hydroelectric and nuclear sources, and by wind power to an increasing extent. But Sweden is not stopping there.
Internationally, Sweden has cross-border transmission lines with most of its surrounding countries, including Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania. For the past decade, the country has consistently been a net exporter, with electricity exports above 39 terawatt-hours in 2022. Meanwhile, electricity imports have remained significantly lower, reaching as low as six terawatt-hours that year, or less than five percent of the Swedish net electricity supply that year.
Going green
Sweden’s energy policy aims to promote sustainability, ensure the security of supply, and among other targets, achieve 100 percent renewable electricity generation by 2040. In line with such policies, recent years have seen significant growth in electricity production from renewable sources. The annual electricity produced from solar photovoltaics has increased by nearly 90-fold over the past decade. Likewise, Sweden’s wind power supply saw an upward trend during that time, coming to account for almost 20 percent of the national power production in 2022. Meanwhile, recent years saw the share of nuclear power in Sweden fall below 30 percent for the first time in well over a decade, as the country’s aging nuclear reactors approach the end of their lifetime. However, in 2023, the country announced that nuclear energy will play a major role in the Swedish electricity supply in the incoming years, with up to 10 new nuclear plants coming online by 2045.Electricity markets in Sweden
With more than five million customers connected to the grid, the country is served by a multitude of electricity supply companies, the largest of which is state-owned Vattenfall AB. Other major players in the Swedish market are Finnish Fortum and Germany-based E.ON. The housing and services sector accounted for the largest share of electricity consumption in the country, at roughly 60 percent. The industry sector followed.Internationally, Sweden has cross-border transmission lines with most of its surrounding countries, including Norway, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania. For the past decade, the country has consistently been a net exporter, with electricity exports above 39 terawatt-hours in 2022. Meanwhile, electricity imports have remained significantly lower, reaching as low as six terawatt-hours that year, or less than five percent of the Swedish net electricity supply that year.
