At the beginning of the year, alarm reports emerged that Sweden was threatened by electricity shortages. This was the case, for example, in Västerås, where the municipality's representatives warned that they could no longer accept new large business establishments. And so it will be in several other places in Sweden. The reason is that several of the major US IT giants establish their data centers in Sweden and they draw a lot of energy. This means that the capacity of the electricity grids is beginning to be filled up, which means that there is no room for any other companies to establish themselves in the region. And it had an impact in the media.

Alluring electricity prices

What has attracted the big IT giants to Sweden is the low electricity prices which are among the lowest in Europe. This is because for many years Sweden has had large surpluses of electricity that push prices down. So the alarm reports were not really about the lack of electricity in Sweden but about the lack of capacity: that the electricity grid is not sufficiently expanded. The power lines are not designed to withstand increased use. It is also beginning to be noticed in the big cities that are growing rapidly. This means that the electricity grid must be expanded, which is a process that takes many years.

Deficiency can occur

There is also another problem. That's what happens when it's the coldest and part of the electricity generation is down. This may be because it is blowing a little, which means that the wind turbines deliver some energy or that some nuclear power plant has had to stop its production. Then there may be a shortage of electricity for a few hours or a few days.

This risk will increase as the wind power is expanded and Svensk Kraftnät, which is responsible for the electricity grid in Sweden, hopes to solve it through increased imports.