The past few weeks have brought several pieces of bad news on the energy front, according to Jan-Olof Jacke. He is thinking, among other things, of Vattenfall's stopped offshore wind farm south of Skåne, and the fact that no new investment decisions on land-based wind power were made during the second quarter.
And he thinks that the recent nuclear power debate has been unserious.
It's clear that the overall picture becomes one of concern, that we have a sluggishness in getting the electricity supply we need to be attractive to industry, says Jacke.
Högre elpris
The announcement that Vattenfall is stopping, or pausing, the large wind farm on Kriegers Flak is especially bad for southern Swedish industry, with likely higher electricity prices as a result.
I have very great understanding for the reactions that exist there, says Jacke.
Vattenfall motivates the decision by saying that it becomes too expensive without government aid to build out the grid at sea. But Jacke points out that there are other energy companies that seem to have calculated without those subsidies.
We'll see if they come to a different conclusion.
But regardless, every stopped new electricity project worries, according to the CEO of Svenskt Näringsliv.
Not technology-neutral
Exactly how potential support for offshore wind power could look, he does not want to go into. These are complex issues. Energy Minister Ebba Busch (KD) does not intend to change her mind, there will be no money for the cables out at sea. It would not be fair, she claims.
But the support that exists for the different energy sources is not neutral, according to Jan-Olof Jacke. For even if Svenskt Näringsliv is cautiously positive to the proposal on how new nuclear power should be financed, with, among other things, several hundred billion kronor in government loans and a guaranteed minimum price for electricity to nuclear power owners, there are question marks.
It's worth evaluating if you can make it more technology-neutral, he says.
Has nuclear power been favored too much?
It's clear that you can't say it's completely neutral when you have a system that has a guaranteed price. And others don't. So there are conditions, I think, to make the proposal more technology-neutral.
Difficult to make decisions
On the other hand:
Our electricity system has never been technology-neutral, says Jacke.
He doesn't believe that the massive support for nuclear power will make other electricity producers hesitate. On the other hand, the fluctuating prices, with increasingly common negative electricity prices. And the long times it takes to get permits for new projects add to the uncertainty.
