The Swedish energy company Vattenfall has released its 2017 results and plans to cut its CO2 emissions by 75% by 2030 and to be fossil-free within one generation. The group will phase out coal from its heating portfolio by 2030, by building new gas- or biogas-fired CHP plants and by replacing fossil fuels in CHP plants with biomass. In addition, Vattenfall will digitalise operations and gather data about customers' consumption to optimise heat production and cut fuel consumption. As of 2030, the group will start phasing out gas from heat production.
In 2017, Vattenfall sold 18.8 TWh of heat (-7.4% on 2016) to more than 2 million end users in Northwest Europe. The group's CHP plants generated 32.2 TWh (+1.9%), 99% of which from fossil fuels. Overall, Vattenfall's power plants generated 127 TWh in 2017 (+7%), of which 52 TWh from nuclear power plants, 36 TWh from hydropower facilities, 32 TWh from thermal plants and 7.6 TWh from wind parks. In 2017, all the company's facilities emitted 23 Mt of CO2 (-2.95%, of which 67.9 Mt in Sweden). As of December 2017, its installed power capacity stood at 31,198 MW (-0.42% year-on-year), of which 17,166 MW in Sweden (+0.3%), 8,297 MW in Germany (-1.1%) and 4,288 MW in the Netherlands (+0.19%). Most of it is hydropower (11,687 MW), followed by thermal (9,554 MW, mostly with gas (4,707 MW), hard coal (3,516 MW) and oil (1,331 MW)), nuclear (5,227 MW) and wind (2,483 MW). Vattenfall sold 157.3 TWh in 2017 (-18.6%), of which 90 TWh in Sweden and 43.5 TWh in Germany, and 56 TWh of gas (+6%), of which 43 TWh in the Netherlands and 12 TWh in Germany.
Over the 2018-2019 period, the company will invest SEK46bn (€4.47bn), of which SEK22bn (€2.14bn) in growth investment: SEK13bn (€1.26bn) in wind power, SEK3bn (€290m) in power distribution and SEK1bn in solar energy.