Why Energy Storage is the Unsung Hero in Sweden’s Nuclear Future

Polarium’s Take on Sweden’s Nuclear Power Proposal
The Swedish government’s recent memorandum, ‘Financing and Risk Sharing for Investments in New Nuclear Power,’ has sparked a lot of buzz. Presented on August 12, 2024, this report dives into the potential impacts of expanding nuclear power in Sweden.

While it acknowledges a temporary spike in national debt, it also highlights the long-term benefits, such as a more stable electricity system and reduced price volatility. This could mean lower costs for system operations and grid expansion in the future, and a useful addition to Sweden’s diverse energy mix. However, the effects on other power sources like wind power are a mixed bag, with both positive and negative implications depending on how electricity prices and volatility evolve.

The report recommends that Sweden adopt the proposed financing and risk-sharing model to attract private investments in nuclear power. If approved by the European Commission, this model could pave the way for new nuclear power projects, contributing to a sustainable and stable electricity system.

But here’s the thing: even with the expansion of nuclear power, energy storage remains a critical piece of the puzzle.

Let’s explore why energy storage will continue to be the missing link in the sustainable energy system:

1.Flexibility and Quick Response
Rapid Response Times: Energy storage can deliver power and balance the grid within seconds, which is essential for managing sudden variations in demand and supply. Nuclear power plants, while excellent for baseload production, lack the ability to quickly scale up or down production to meet immediate changes in demand.

Regulation Power: Even with the stable production and inertia of nuclear power, energy storage is needed to handle remaining frequency variations and ensure the grid operates smoothly under all conditions.

2. Support for Renewable Energy Sources
Integration of Renewable Energy: Renewable energy sources like solar and wind are intermittent, meaning their production varies depending on weather conditions. Energy storage is crucial for storing excess energy produced during periods of the high output (e.g., sunny or windy days) and releasing it when production is low.

3. Support for Decentralized Energy Solutions
Microgrids and Decentralization: Energy storage not only facilitates the operation of microgrids and local energy systems, but it also enhances the resiliency and durability of these systems. As energy production becomes more decentralized, these qualities are essential to ensure a continuous and secure energy supply. This is especially crucial given the current security landscape, where local energy solutions play an important role in reducing the load on central power grids and improving energy security. Even with the expansion of nuclear power, resilient local energy infrastructures are critical to withstand potential disruptions and ensure long-term energy stability.

Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage: With the increasing use of electric vehicles, energy storage has become an integral part of the energy infrastructure. They can not only benefit from nuclear power production to charge vehicles but also serve as distributed storage units that can support the grid.

4.Reduction of Grid Costs and Bottlenecks
Avoiding Grid Expansion: By storing energy locally, batteries can reduce the need for costly grid expansion and manage bottlenecks in the grid, especially during times of high demand. This is also relevant in scenarios where nuclear power plays a significant role in delivering baseload.

5. Support for Energy Supply During Crisis Conditions
Energy Security and Resilience: Energy storage provide an additional level of security by being able to supply power during short outages or disruptions in energy supply, which is important even if nuclear power constitutes a significant part of the energy mix.

6. Economic Optimization
Price Optimization: Energy storage can be used to store energy when electricity prices are low (e.g., at night when demand is low) and then sell back energy when prices are high. This can complement the more stable price structure of nuclear power and provide economic benefits for both energy producers and consumers.

7. Future Energy Markets and Innovation
Continued Technological Development: Battery technology is rapidly evolving, and future innovations can make batteries even more cost-effective and powerful. This will enhance their role as a complementary technology to nuclear power.

Market Development: The energy industry is moving towards more dynamic and flexible market models where storage plays a crucial role. Even with nuclear power as a stable base, the flexibility that energy storage offers are required to optimize the functioning of the energy market.

Conclusion
Energy storage will continue to be a critical component of the energy infrastructure, even in a scenario with the expansion of centralized nuclear power production. The ability to respond quickly, support renewable energy sources, and improve the overall efficiency and resilience of both the grid and the energy system makes them indispensable in a modern energy mix.

About Polarium
Polarium is a leading energy storage developer. We make energy storage and optimization solutions built on lithium-ion battery technology for businesses within telecom, commercial, industrial and residential facilities across the world. Polarium was founded in 2015 on the conviction that safe, smart and sustainable energy storage solutions will be key to empower the transition to a truly, sustainable energy future. We are an impact business contributing to the sustainable energy transformation by enabling renewables, electrification, and intermittent power supply. Our cutting-edge and easily adaptable modular battery technology enables us to be in the forefront of developing state-of-the art sustainable energy storage and optimization solutions for today – and tomorrow. Polarium is headquartered in Stockholm, with production in Sweden, South Africa and Vietnam, customers across the world from Ghana to Svalbard and ∼400 employees.

For more information:
press@polarium.com