Rolls-Royce skal bygge kjernekraft i Sverige

Videberg Kraft has chosen Rolls-Royce SMR to supply three reactors for a new nuclear project at Ringhals on Sweden’s west coast, marking a major step in a plan that could reshape the country’s power system.

The company said on June 15, 2026 that its board selected Rolls-Royce SMR after a three-year review of more than 70 alternatives. The decision ends a long supplier search that had narrowed to two finalists: Rolls-Royce SMR and GE Vernova Hitachi.

The project is planned for the existing Ringhals site at Väröhalvön. Videberg Kraft says the plan is for three reactors, each with a capacity of 470 MW, for a combined output of about 1,500 MW.

According to the company, the three reactors could produce around 12 TWh of fossil-free electricity a year. The first reactor is not expected to enter service before the middle of the 2030s.

From shortlist to selection

The supplier choice had been widely anticipated after Vattenfall said in December 2025 that Videberg Kraft was applying for state support for the project and expected to make a final supplier decision during 2026.

At that time, the project company was still weighing either five GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 reactors or three Rolls-Royce SMR units, both totaling about 1,500 MW.

Videberg Kraft’s announcement on June 15 moves the project from evaluation into the next phase of work. The company said it will now begin detailed planning and continue toward FEED and EPC agreements.

A final investment decision has not yet been taken.

Why the choice matters

Videberg Kraft described the decision as an important step toward Sweden’s first new nuclear build in more than 40 years. The project is also politically and economically significant because it is intended to bolster electricity supply in southern Sweden, where demand is high and supply is tighter than in the north.

The Ringhals site is already a nuclear location, which gives the project an established industrial setting even though the new build still faces major technical, regulatory and financial steps before construction can begin.

Anna Borg, who is Vattenfall’s chief executive and a board member of Videberg Kraft, said Rolls-Royce SMR best met the project’s criteria and offered a commercially attractive contract structure.

Tom Erixon, a Videberg Kraft board member representing Industrikraft, said the selected supplier brings an industrialized concept that reduces delay risk.

Desirée Comstedt, acting chief executive of Videberg Kraft, said the company is now moving into detailed planning for the project.

Backers and next steps

Videberg Kraft is backed by Vattenfall and Industrikraft, and the Swedish state is expected to become a future majority owner.

That ownership structure matters because the project still needs to resolve risk-sharing and financing with the state and other authorities. Those issues will shape both the final cost of the reactors and the timing of any investment decision.

The project now enters a phase that will include detailed engineering work, contract negotiations and continued cooperation with authorities. Permitting and regulatory review still stand between the supplier choice and any construction start.

For Rolls-Royce SMR, the selection is a significant win in the European small modular reactor market. For Sweden, it is a test of whether a new generation of nuclear projects can move from policy ambition to execution.

The Swedish government has set a target of at least 2,500 MW of new nuclear capacity by 2035, and the Ringhals project is one of the clearest tests of whether that target can move from planning into delivery.