In the wake of the Ukraine crisis and Germany’s nuclear shutdown, Swedish-state-owned Vattenfall is supplying even more energy from coal. Vattenfal’s chief executive officer told Swedish public television that coal power will have an important role to play in the future.
The state-owned power company, which runs Sweden’s hydro and nuclear plants, had its annual general meeting on Monday. Despite getting badly burned by buying the now-devalued Dutch company Nuon, Vattenfall has plans to buy up even more foreign coal companies.
The Swedish state is the owner of Vattenfall. The government’s representative at the meeting says that, despite setting a goal of reducing carbon emissions, the government has no objection to Vattenfall investing in coal, and leaves such decisions to the company board.
Coal remains popular in Germany
Vattenfall’s carbon emissions have increased in the past few years, by 3.4 million metric tons in 2013. That was partly because of a new coal-fired power station in Germany.
Vattenfall CEO Oystien Loseth says to Swedish television that, because of the shutting down of the country’s nuclear power stations, coal is remaining very important in Germany, and Vattenfall wants to be able to deliver. He says events in Ukraine, along with Germany’s wish to become energy self-sufficient, mean that coal will continue to be important there.