Sweden reaches new wind power record

For the first time ever, Swedish wind power produced more than a terawatt-hour of energy in one week.
The milestone was reached in the first week of the year, industry organization Swedenergy told Sveriges Radio Ekot.

“It’s a new record on a weekly basis. The record is partly down to the fact that it’s been unbelievably windy, especially in the northern parts of Sweden, and partly because we have more wind power installed now,” Per Holm from Swedenergy said.

Last year wind power produced almost 20 terawatt-hours throughout the whole year, and represents just over ten percent of electricity production in Sweden. However, it is more unpredictable than other methods, Holm said, since it requires windy weather.

Sweden’s net exports of electricity rose by around a half in 2019 compared to 2018. Net exports were equivalent to around 15 percent of Sweden’s total electricity production.

The electricity was primarily exported to Norway and Finland, which were not able to produce enough electricity to cover their needs.

Swedish electricity comes mostly from water, and nuclear power with wind power production raised by almost a fifth in 2019.

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