Sweden says no to new power cable to Germany (updated)

Elia SA

14/06/2024 14:34

(Adds background and detail from paragraph 2)
       STOCKHOLM, June 14 (Reuters) - The Swedish government
has turned down an application to build a new subsea power
connection between Sweden and Germany, the so-called Hansa
PowerBridge project, because the German market is not efficient
enough, it said on Friday. 
    "We can't connect southern Sweden, which has a large deficit
in electricity production, with Germany, where the electricity
market today does not function efficiently," Energy Minister
Ebba Busch said in a statement. 
    "That would risk leading to higher prices and a more
unstable electricity market in Sweden," she said. 
     Grid operators Svenska Kraftnat and 50Hertz had aimed for
the project to allow more renewable power from the Nordics to
Germany, while imports from Germany would contribute to a more
secure electricity supply in southern Sweden.
     Germany's 50Hertz is majority-owned by Belgium's Elia
 ELI.BR .

 (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Stine Jacobsen)
 ((anna.ringstrom@thomsonreuters.com;))