POWER Digest [January 2026]

Sonal Patel

Fri, January 2, 2026 astatine 8:28 AM CST 6 min read

News briefs curated from December 2025 by the editors of POWER, highlighting cardinal developments crossed planetary powerfulness markets, technology, finance, and vigor infrastructure.

Swedish authorities inferior Vattenfall and concern consortium Industrikraft one Sverige AB signed an agreement, announced connected Nov. 10, to co‑invest successful caller tiny modular reactors (SMRs) astatine the Ringhals tract connected Sweden’s Värö Peninsula. The effort moves the task into associated improvement and clears the mode for authorities risk‑sharing. Industrikraft—formed successful June 2024 by ABB, Alfa Laval, Boliden, Hitachi Energy, Höganäs AB, SSAB, Saab, Stora Enso, and Volvo Group—will instrumentality a 20% involvement successful task institution Videberg Kraft AB and put SEK 400 cardinal ($42.2 million) to concern early‑stage development. In summation to co‑financing, manufacture volition lend task absorption expertise and exertion enactment enactment to guarantee Swedish exertion has a spot successful a competitory European proviso chain. Vattenfall has shortlisted GE Vernova–Hitachi’s BWRX‑300 and the Rolls‑Royce SMR for a 1,500 MW project—either 5 BWRX‑300s oregon 3 Rolls‑Royce units—and volition taxable an exertion for authorities risk‑sharing earlier selecting a last supplier. The statement follows Sweden’s state-aid act, which took unit successful August 2025 and limits loans to the equivalent of 4 large‑scale reactors (about 5,000 MWe), provided caller units are sited astatine existing atomic locations with astatine slightest 300 MWe full output. Vattenfall CEO Anna Borg called the concern “a motion that determination volition beryllium a request for the caller fossil‑free energy accumulation capacity,” portion Industrikraft Chairman Tom Erixon said the companies “have reached statement connected the astir important issues.”

Global atomic capableness could scope 1,428 GWe by 2050, exceeding the 1,200‑GWe “triple nuclear” target, if governments present connected nationalist plans, according to a preview of the World Nuclear Outlook Report 2025 released by the World Nuclear Association astatine COP30 connected Nov. 13. The caller appraisal reflects extended cognition of existing reactors, units nether construction, and authoritative targets, which full 1,363 GWe. Nuclear procreation deed a grounds 2,667 TWh successful 2024. The study identifies 50 countries with atomic plans for 2050, including China, France, India, Russia, and the U.S., which relationship for astir 1,000 GWe. The report, however, acknowledges that realizing the caller fig volition necessitate accelerated licensing, expanded proviso chains, and wide argumentation frameworks for ample reactors and SMRs. It besides notes that concern giants including Amazon, Google, and Meta person pledged support, portion the World Bank and 14 large fiscal institutions person affirmed backing for atomic expansion. The afloat study is expected to beryllium published aboriginal this year.