*

Vattenfall shortlists Rolls-Royce SMR, GE Vernova ( GEV )

*

Electricity demand in Sweden expected to double over the

next

two decades

*

Vattenfall also considering building an additional 1,000

MW

nuclear capacity

(Adds Rolls-Royce comment in paragraph 4, Deputy PM comment in

paragraph 9)

By Simon Johnson

STOCKHOLM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Swedish utility Vattenfall

has selected Britain's Rolls-Royce SMR and U.S. group GE

Vernova ( GEV ) as candidates to supply a series of small

modular nuclear reactors, it said on Thursday.

Sweden's parliament in May passed legislation to finance a

new generation of reactors, the first built in Sweden for more

than 40 years and which the government says is necessary for

energy security and achieving net zero emissions by 2045.

Vattenfall plans to order either five BWRX-300 reactors from

GE Vernova ( GEV ) or three Rolls-Royce small modular reactors (SMRs),

which will be built at Vattenfall's existing Ringhals plant in

southwest Sweden to provide a total output of around 1,500 MW.

Rolls-Royce said each of its SMRs would generate enough

electricity to power a million homes for more than 60 years.

Vattenfall said it is also considering building an

additional 1,000 MW to replace two decommissioned reactors at

Ringhals.

After looking like a doomed technology after nuclear

accidents at Chernobyl in Ukraine and Fukushima in Japan,

nuclear power has been undergoing a revival.

Sweden had previously voted, in 1980, to phase out its

reactors. It now plans at least 2,500 MW of nuclear capacity by

2035 and has promised the first "spade in the ground" before the

country votes in a general election in September next year.

"It's not a question now of whether we will build more

nuclear power but how fast and how much," Deputy Prime Minister

Ebba Busch told a news conference held near the Ringhals plant.

In total, the government wants the equivalent of around 10

new, full-size reactors by 2045.

Electricity demand in Sweden is expected to double to around

300 terrawatt-hours over the next two decades, the government

says, due in part to new industries like green steel, bio-fuels

and large-scale hydrogen production.

A white paper published last August said the state may need

to lend nuclear developers between 300 billion and 600 billion

crowns ($31-63 billion) with fixed prices for 40 years.

Critics say nuclear power will be too expensive and too slow

to build.

Sweden has six operational reactors, all of which were built

in the 1970s and 1980s. Electricity production is already almost

entirely fossil-free, with hydropower accounting for around 40%

of output, nuclear 30% and wind 20%.