The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) has warned that the country is not prepared for the looming energy crisis this winter, stating that businesses and vulnerable people are at major risk if electricity shortages and outages occur.
Following reports that the nuclear reactor Ringhals 4 will be offline until at least the end of January next year, the MSB has expressed concern that Sweden may not be able to supply enough energy over the course of the winter as the country will also have problems importing electricity when domestic production is not enough.
Sanctions against Russia combined with reduced electrical production in France and Norway could make it extremely difficult for Sweden to keep supply matching demand over the winter and could affect Swedes as power outages could occur across the country, broadcaster SVT reports.
“Unfortunately, preparedness is generally very poor. Already in 2011, we identified 50,000 electricity-dependent socially important businesses in Sweden. Very few of them have reserve power today,” MSB manager of supply preparedness Jan-olof Olsson told the broadcaster and added, “The consequence is that many businesses, shops and companies simply shut down in the event of a power outage because there is no plan b.”
Former Swedish Minister Warns Energy Crisis Could be ‘Far Greater’ than Both Pandemic And 2008 Financial Crisishttps://t.co/4cuQuVArh4
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 7, 2022
Olsson also highlighted the danger posed to vulnerable people saying, “For people who have life support machines at home and home health care, there is always a risk if there is a power cut. Even if you have reserve power, a switchover must take place.”
The energy crisis has already seen prices of electricity in Sweden soar last month in some areas of the country to around 400 per cent compared to last year. The rise in prices was linked to high demand from other countries in Europe as well as low electrical output from Sweden’s domestic wind farms and other domestic sources of energy.
Anders Borg, a former Swedish Finance Minister, warned earlier this month that the energy crisis could risk being even more serious than the 2008 financial crisis or the coronavirus pandemic saying factors such as the Russian cut-off of natural gas and an energy shortage in Germany could have serious repercussions for the rest of Europe.
“The other risk is of course that we will have an acute energy shortage in Germany. Their central bank has said that perhaps 65-85 per cent of the energy-intensive industry may have to be closed over the winter,” he said and added, “It would cause an industrial crisis of historic dimensions, perhaps far greater than both covid and the financial crisis. That risk is on the map.”
Swedish electricity prices have increased 400 percent since last year as costs for other goods such as food and alcoholic beverages continue to rise as well. https://t.co/o7Sl3wQxtu
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 19, 2022
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