Welcome to Grid Brief! Here’s what we’re looking at today: Westinghouse’s CEO alludes to potential new AP1000 builds in America, Sweden expands its commitment to nuclear energy, and more.

Demand for Big Nukes Rises in US

Many thought that the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia might be the last we see of new AP1000 (1.1 GW) reactor builds. Southern’s commitment to the new reactors at Vogtle helped push the utility through massive delays and budget increases. Few believed any other utilities would have the stomach for such a big project.

But the CEO of Westinghouse, Patrick Fragman, says American utilities are interested in their own AP1000s.

“There are some American utilities which are very seriously talking with us about new AP1000s,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Fragman said in a piece carried by Bloomberg. Fragman didn’t name the interested companies.

If Westinghouse can ink more domestic deals for AP1000s, then it should be able to capitalize on the economies of repetition that drive down costs and shorten construction timelines.

Sweden Doubles Down on Nuclear Energy

This week, Sweden’s parliament passed a new bill that will expand the amount of nuclear reactors the country can build. The previous cap on reactors was ten.

“The new law will also allow construction of nuclear reactors at sites other than the current plants - Ringhals, Forsmark and Oskarshamn - where Sweden's fleet of six reactors is located,” reports Reuters.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s government put forward the policy to build two new conventional reactors by 2035. Expanding nuclear power generation is a vital strategy to shore up Sweden’s reliability issues. After closing several nuclear power plants due to a referendum to get rid of nuclear, Sweden’s grid found itself overly reliant on intermittent renewable energy.

"The Riksdag shares the government's assessment that fossil-free nuclear power will continue to play a central role in the Swedish energy mix," the parliament said in a statement. "The main reasons for this are an expected greater demand for electricity in combination with the need to phase out fossil fuels, not least for climate reasons.”

Although the country lost half of its nuclear fleet to the aforementioned referendum, Sweden’s recent pro-nuclear turn marks another departure from the post-1970’s anti-nuclear orthodoxy in the West. The energy crisis triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war helped turn the tide towards the atom.

Share Grid Brief

We rely on word of mouth to grow. If you're enjoying this, don't forget to forward Grid Brief to your friends and ask them to subscribe!

Conversation Starters

• Russia has taken over Iraq’s largest oil discovery in two decades. “Preliminary estimates suggested that Iraq’s Eridu oil field holds between 7-10 billion barrels of reserves. Senior Russian oil industry sources spoken to exclusively by OilPrice.com last week said the true figure may well be 50 percent more than the higher figure of that band,” reports Oilprice.com. “In either event, the Eridu field - part of Iraq’s Block 10 exploration and development region – is the biggest oil find in Iraq in the last 20 years, and Russia wants to control all of it, alongside its chief geopolitical ally, China. The approval last week by Iraq’s Oil Ministry for Inpex – the major oil company of key U.S. ally Japan – to sell its 40 percent stake in the Block 10 region that contains the huge Eridu discovery leaves the way clear for Lukoil to take total control of the entire oil-rich area.“

• Argentina President-elect Milei taps new YPF chief. “Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei selected a senior energy executive to lead state oil company YPF on Wednesday, his spokesperson announced, in one of the leader's first major economic decisions after his triumph at the polls last weekend,” reports Reuters. “Horacio Marin heads exploration and production for Tecpetrol, which runs the Fortin de Piedra oil and gas field within Argentina's prolific Vaca Muerta shale formation, one of the world's largest. YPF is one of Argentina's top domestic sellers of refined fuels, and also leads development of Vaca Muerta, a key supplier of natural gas and crude oil.”

• India launched its first auction for critical minerals. “India is launching its first-ever auction of tracts containing critical and strategic minerals as it looks to boost its renewable energy rollout and EV uptake and protect its national security,” reports Oilprice.com. “The Indian Ministry of Mines said that it is auctioning 20 blocks of critical and strategic minerals across the country in a ;landmark initiative that will boost our economy, enhance national security and support our transition to a clean energy future.’ The auction process for the blocks containing lithium, graphite, nickel, molybdenum, and rare earth elements began on Wednesday.”

Crom’s Blessing

Upgrade to Grid Brief Premium get extra deep dives into energy issues all over the world.