Sweden's state-owned energy company Vattenfall said Tuesday that it would close two of its oldest nuclear reactors, Ringhals 1 and 2, seven years ahead of schedule due to economic reasons.
Vattenfall said that with the closures would be the loss of 1,000 jobs.
In a first quarter earnings statement released Tuesday, Vattenfall, which operates seven nuclear reactors, said its adjusted operating earnings fell 15 percent from the first quarter of 2014 to $892 million. In response to poor earnings and weak forecasts for energy prices, Vattenfall said it would close the 881-megawatt Ringhals-1 and 865 MW Ringhals-2 nuclear reactors between 2018 and 2020. The two reactors had been scheduled to close in 2025.
In total, Sweden has 10 reactors at three different facilities. Combined, they generate 39 percent of the country's electricity generation, using 2013 data.
Ringhal is the site of four reactors. The newer two Ringhal units, 3 and 4, are not scheduled to close until sometime after 2040.
The Ringhals power plant is 70.4 percent owned by Vattenfall and 29.6 percent owned by German energy giant E.ON. The early closures have to be approved by the board of directors that run Ringhals and that will require “unanimity” between Vattenfall and E.ON directors, Phys.org reported.