Hydro power
The technology to extract electricity from our watercourses is both advanced and tried and tested. Generation takes place by having water fall from a reservoir through a turbine. One major advantage of hydro power is that it is possible to control generation according to the demand for electricity.
The Swedish energy system is built to handle predictable electricity generation from a limited number of large plants based on hydro power, nuclear power and CHP. Just over 250 large power plants in the major rivers account for 98% of hydro power generation. In the Swedish electricity system, hydro power is currently the largest renewable energy source, accounting for around 45% of electricity generation. Hydro power, together with nuclear power, forms the basis of the Swedish electricity system.
Renewable regulating power
Hydro power provides renewable energy and plays an important role as regulating power for solar and wind. It can balance the fluctuating demand for electricity both over the year and during one day. Hydro power will be able to continue to supply around the same amount of renewable electricity as today, around 68 TWh per year.
Any further expansion of hydro power is not environmentally justifiable, as it has a major impact on the nature around the power plant. Conditions in a dam with its varying water level are completely different from those of a free-flowing river. Downstream of the power plant, the river channel is often dried out for long sections.
