The Nordic nation is now the third European country to have waved goodbye to coal for power generation. Another 11 European states have made plans to follow suit over the next decade.
Sweden has joined Europe’s scramble to decommission coal. Power utility Stockholm Exergi has announced the permanent closure of coal-fired co-generation plant KVV6, in Hjorthagen, eastern Stockholm.
The Scandinavian country had planned to rid itself of coal by 2022 but appears to have decommissioned its facilities two years early.
The KVV6 plant has two boiler rooms, one of which was shut before the winter. The other facility was kept operational as a power reserve but a mild winter meant Stockholm Exergi did not have to use it and the utility has decided to shutter the plant for good.
Stockholm Exergi said it will now focus on carbon-negative approaches. “We continue to work on the transition to climate-neutral solutions and also solutions to create negative emissions,” said chief executive Anders Egelrud. “Here, the researchers agree: We don’t only need to reduce our emissions to zero but also … to develop techniques to specifically reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”