Research and development

Vattenfall’s R&D contributes to the development of tomorrow’s energy system.

The work is devoted on new or existing technologies to meet the demands and expectations of our customers, to reduce the environmental impact of our operations, to improve the efficiency of our operations and to contribute to develop environmentally sustainable energy solutions.

Support sustainable development

Tomorrow’s energy system must be able to support sustainable development in society, and not compromise the quality of life of future generations.

Meeting these demands provides a major challenge. A wide palette of technical solutions will be required. There will not be one finite solution. At Vattenfall, we are aware of our responsibility to make our contribution to transforming the energy supply system into a sustainable one.

It’s because of this commitment that Vattenfall performs research and development – to develop our business, to support our strategies, to improve existing plants, and to contribute to the development of tomorrow’s energy solutions.

Funds for long-term investments

Calculated in proportion to the Group’s sales, Group-wide R&D expenditure was approximately 0.6% in 2011, which is in parity with Vattenfall’s competitors. This share is reasonable considering that Vattenfall is a technology using, rather than product-developing company.

In 2011, Vattenfall spent a total of SEK 1,092 million on R&D. Of this, SEK 210 million pertained to Vattenfall’s share of the work on developing a safe and approved method for final storage of spent nuclear fuel, which is conducted by the subsidiary SKB.