Sweden's Blykalla applies for government funding for advanced reactor park at Tierp

Untra Nuclear Power AB, a wholly owned project company of Swedish advanced nuclear energy firm Blykalla Group, submitted an application on August 31 seeking state support for investment in a new nuclear power plant. The project plans to build an advanced reactor park in the Untra area of Tierp municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden, with 6 to 8 SEALER-55 units planned.

According to the project plan, if 8 units are built, the plant's total installed capacity would reach 440 MW, with an estimated annual generation of 3.68 TWh. Blykalla Group had previously submitted a government approval application for the project on August 25.

Sweden's new nuclear financing model took effect on August 1, 2025, primarily comprising three instruments: state loans, contracts for difference, and risk-sharing mechanisms. Specific parameters such as interest rates, strike prices, and contract durations will be negotiated on a project-by-project basis and are subject to review by the European Commission.

Blykalla Group has established Untra Nuclear Power AB as the license holder and financing platform for the nuclear power plant project. The company expects to bring in strategic and financial investors in the future. The Tierp project is also the second nuclear power plant project from Blykalla Group to enter the financing process, seen as a step in advancing its cluster-based approach to nuclear power plant construction. According to the company's vision, the cost advantage of small modular reactors primarily stems from reduced per-unit costs achieved through repetitive construction, rather than the economies of scale of a single large plant.

Blykalla CEO Jacob Stedman stated that the demand for dispatchable power in this region of Sweden is substantial and still growing. Deploying small modular nuclear power plants makes it possible to provide needed electricity locally at sites where nuclear plants were previously difficult to build, representing a step toward building a stronger clean energy system.

Tierp is located in the SE3 bidding zone, where Sweden's electricity consumption is relatively high. Svenska kraftnät, the Swedish national grid operator, estimates that during a normal winter, the peak-hour power deficit in the region is approximately 5.2 GW; during an extremely cold winter, the deficit would rise to 6.2 GW. If the Untra nuclear power plant is built with 8 units, it could provide stable, dispatchable power covering approximately 7% to 8% of the region's peak-hour power deficit.

The project is located approximately 9 kilometers from the new 400 kV grid connection point at Mehedeby. The Mehedeby connection point is part of Svenska kraftnät's "Uppsala Plan," and its construction schedule is aligned with the Tierp nuclear power plant project, with completion expected in 2032. Sweden has set a target of adding 2,500 MW of new nuclear capacity by 2035; at 440 MW, the Tierp project would account for approximately 18% of this target.

Negotiations on state support terms for the project will commence after the government decides to proceed with the application. Meanwhile, Blykalla Group is preparing applications under Sweden's Environmental Code and Nuclear Activities Act, while continuing to advance demonstration projects at Oskarshamn and in the United States. If the licensing process proceeds smoothly, the first reactor at the Untra nuclear power plant could enter operation in the first half of the 2030s.