Response to interpellation 2024/25:140 on electric trucks
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD considers the automotive industry to be central to the Swedish economy and that a green transition creates jobs and prosperity 1. KD argues that the government is implementing a paradigm shift in the permit processes and is investing in charging infrastructure for heavy vehicles 1. KD emphasizes that conditions must be created through a technology-neutral playing field and planning goals for electricity production 2. KD argues that wind power can be released quickly while nuclear power takes time. KD argues that the government has lowered inflation, improved wind power regulation and shortened the time for cable processes. KD emphasizes that they have lowered the diesel price 3 and are investing in a green transition anchored in reality 3. S argues that industrial jobs are at stake and that Sweden needs more action to build up competitiveness and preparedness 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! Isak From has asked me if I am considering new legislation to ensure that the large investments being made in the Swedish automotive industry will be successful, promote a climate transition, and create new jobs instead of risking new investment halts.
The automotive industry is and has historically been a central industry that has created jobs, strengthened the Swedish economy and increased our competitiveness. The transition to fossil-free that the automotive industry has begun is extensive, large-scale and complex and also needs to occur as quickly as possible. The Swedish automotive industry has a strong position in the EU and has the potential to become a leader when Europe is to become fossil-free. A green transition done in the right way will create jobs and prosperity as well as ensure a growing automotive industry in Sweden.
Swedish business shall be given the conditions to be world-leading. The task of politics is to contribute with frameworks, conditions and incentives for more investments in Sweden. Industry is carrying out extensive strategic investments in the green and digital transition, which is crucial for creating long-term competitiveness. At the same time, the government presents proposals and takes step by step towards a richer and greener Sweden where climate anxiety is turned into climate hope.
The EU's legislative package Fit for 55, which was negotiated during the Swedish presidency, contains several important legal acts within the transport sector. Here, Sweden plays an important role in safeguarding the legislative package and thereby creating the stability and long-term perspective that the business community within the transport sector needs in order to be able to transition to fossil-free.
The government has restructured the energy policy and is implementing a paradigm shift within the permit processes. The government has established a green acceleration office to facilitate the industry's transition and to further increase the pace in Sweden's decision-making processes.
The direction forward is clear: road transport must be transitioned, primarily through electrification. In the coming years, the pace of the transition needs to increase, and in the climate policy action plan, the government presented measures to accelerate the electrification of both light and heavy vehicles. The government supports the transition via a climate premium that promotes the market introduction of vehicles with low emissions, and the number of applications to the Swedish Energy Agency for support for electric trucks has increased rapidly since the introduction in 2020.
The government is also investing in charging and refueling infrastructure for heavy vehicles so that electricity and hydrogen can more quickly replace gasoline and diesel and, in the long run, contribute to reducing transport costs. The initiative on regional electrification pilots supports the expansion of charging and refueling infrastructure for heavy electric vehicles. Within the framework of the program, the Swedish Energy Agency has granted 249 charging points for a total of 548 million kronor. The Swedish Energy Agency is announcing an additional 850 million kronor for this purpose in 2024 and intends to make another announcement in 2025.
The Government also proposes in the budget bill for 2025 that Klimatklivet receives an additional 500 million kronor in 2025 and 500 million kronor in 2027, partly to accelerate the expansion of charging infrastructure. Additionally, the Government extends Klimatklivet until 2030.
It is important to create good conditions for realizing the vehicle manufacturers' key investments in the form of establishments. Sweden's export and investment council Business Sweden was therefore given a coordination mandate in June 2023 to strengthen the coordination of efforts for large establishments in the automotive industry's green transition. The Government continues to follow that development very closely.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, the Minister for Energy and Business, for the opportunity to debate this important issue on such a beautiful Monday! We had a debate on the same theme barely a year ago. I see that the Minister's answer has developed a bit more in a positive direction. At the same time, I may think that quite a lot is missing, and parts of the answer make one wonder about new questions. I, of course, received no answer as to whether there will be any new legislation so that these investments will be successful.
The background to the interpellation is partly Sweden's and Europe's precarious position being entirely in the hands of China. Even the USA is a large producer of batteries, but the industry's demand for electric trucks also determines whether the demand for electric transport will become large. It also determines, Madam Speaker, whether there is a willingness to invest in increased battery capacity in Europe. Now I am not just talking about the crisis currently occurring at Northvolt in Västerås and Skellefteå, but about the battery industry in the entire EU. It is not looking very good for the market, one might say. Regardless of which establishments we are talking about—those occurring in Germany and Hungary or in Sweden—none have really succeeded.
Investments have been announced by not least Scania and Volvo. Volvo has admittedly postponed the start, but Scania is working intensively to ensure that Northvolt's establishment in Skellefteå will be successful. Northvolt has, moreover, increased its production quite avalanche-like. In January, they produced 1 percent of what was intended, and in September they were actually up to 60 percent. It is a quite large step.
We must ask ourselves whether the government is providing the Swedish industry with the conditions to be world-leading, as the Minister describes it in his response. It is said here that the Swedish industry shall be world-leading, and right now we are receiving a lot of support from Norway, which has signaled that 100 percent of heavy traffic shall be fossil-independent by 2030. They have also signaled a very ambitious electrification program for heavy industry. Scania and Volvo are completely dominant even on the Norwegian and European markets, so Norway's support in this is positive.
Volvo and Scania are not only leading in their segment in Europe but are also world leaders when it comes to heavy vehicles. That these two manufacturers of heavy vehicles are at the forefront is also completely crucial for which direction and what competitiveness the Swedish automotive industry shall have moving forward.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I appreciate that Member Isak From notes that there is even more to be accounted for from the government's side. When a year has passed, I think one has the right to expect that we should have even more measures on the list.
I also want, if I may, to give a brief ideological comment on this. We can never command investments forward, something that should not be the state's task, but we can pave the way for them. Either one has a sufficiently good climate for companies to dare to make heavy investments, or one does not.
And since I am responsible for both energy issues and business issues, I know that the business community has noted the technology-neutral and long-term playing field that we in this chamber have created through the energy policy direction bill, where we have stated that there shall be planning targets.
Sweden has not had any goals for how much electricity can be produced in the country and with what level of security of supply. We are therefore not just steering towards more electricity but towards capacity that allows heavy corporate investments to be connected, but also towards ensuring there is enough electricity where it is needed and when it is needed, which is absolutely crucial to be able to electrify both our light and our heavy transport sectors.
We have made a total of 50 decisions concerning both here and now and up until 2030, in order to improve the energy situation in Sweden, which is absolutely crucial.
We have a great focus on the permit processes, which are still not sufficiently fast or predictable. We have initiated an investigation that reviews both substantive and procedural issues, which is absolutely crucial. As I understand it, this never happened during the previous government, which the Social Democrats should not be blamed for, as it was due to a large opposition from Miljöpartiet.
Not least, we also have all the concrete initiatives on charging stations. We both reinforce and extend the existing initiatives on charging infrastructure for both light and heavy vehicles, as said. Together with the previous initiatives, the available funds for this appropriation now amount to 2.5 billion kronor for the period from the current year 2024 to 2026.
In the budget bill for 2025, the government increases the pace of the expansion of charging infrastructure, as I explained in my response, which is also available in writing.
It is about stationary charging or refueling as well as the expansion of the infrastructure for trucks in regional networks and coherent corridors between Sweden's major cities. There, we know that those who are to make the purchases and decide to switch from a diesel- or gasoline-powered vehicle – regardless of whether they are private car owners, drivers, or companies that depend on transport with trucks – dare to trust that they can perform their transports with electricity if the infrastructure is there. And that is something we pave the way for to the highest degree.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! We are more than halfway through the parliamentary term, but initially it has been clear that the Sweden Democrats' influence over the government has slowed down the green industrial transition. This has probably been established beyond any reasonable doubt.
To address the Minister's response, she also says in her second contribution that the government has shifted the energy policy. This must be said to have been noticed, as investments in wind power have decreased. We are also aware of the defense's view on offshore wind power and the government's decision regarding the connection of offshore wind power.
We know that the government and the Sweden Democrats want to build nuclear power. Build nuclear power then! But we also know that this costs money and is quite expensive. I also believe that we need to build nuclear power, so there is no contradiction there.
The Minister of Justice accounted for the permit processes, but as the Minister is fully aware, it is still a matter of local opposition. Whether one is a landowner, neighbor, farmer, or reindeer herder, a wind turbine is not particularly positive.
It is the same thing when it comes to power transmission. We probably have the EU's longest lead times for building new power transmission. This is a problem that we have here and now and that we must deal with. Then I do not think that the lubricant of 370 million kronor to the municipalities is enough, even if it is well-intentioned, but I believe that more is needed. There is, in fact, a fairly strong resistance movement against new energy transmission.
I read an article on the plane on the way here today where Sveriges Jordägareförbund writes that they will never, without rightful compensation and the opportunity for long-term income, accept losing land to power transmission.
This is a question that will come back because the appeal processes, which is nothing new, are ongoing here and now. They do not mean shorter lead times or shorter permit processes. It is a fact, after all.
Then it is permissible that one, just as the Minister says, adds money to Klimatklivet and secures it until 2030. This has been very important. I can mention that for our part we add 500 million kronor to Industriklivet and 250 million kronor to accelerate, among other things, charging infrastructure and other important climate investments.
We see this as absolutely crucial to ensure that the automotive industry can take the step up and continue to be a leader. That the investments made by, among others, Scania, which is producing a completely new truck in Södertälje, are actually carried out is a matter of demand. If the market does not demand such transports, there will also be no industrial jobs in Södertälje, Göteborg, or Mariestad.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I begin by establishing what I perceive Isak From and I are completely in agreement on, and that is the need for nuclear power. But we will not have nuclear power tomorrow or in five years. We will be very happy if we manage to get it in place in ten years. This I am fully aware of. We are conducting a realistic energy policy.
The best time to build new nuclear power would have been eight years ago, but instead of letting the planning of two new reactors be completed, two existing ones were decommissioned instead. This will result in a difference of four, in addition to those that have already been decommissioned. This will, however, not solve Sweden's problems now.
The second best time to make decisions about new nuclear power is now, and in the meantime, wind power is what we have the opportunity to release quickly. The problem is only that we have tested the red-green energy policy over the last ten years, and what was the result? Well, a lot of electricity - a huge amount of electricity. That is completely correct. I will, however, repeat these figures over and over again until the problem is understood: There was 13,000 megawatts more electricity into the system over ten years, but only 340 megawatts more in consumption.
In what other area would one allow such a thing? Look here, the Police Authority, you get 10,000 more police officers, but what will be the result? Well, perhaps a handful more solved crimes. Nowhere else would one accept that. 13,000 megawatts of electricity entered the system, equivalent to what ten nuclear power plants can produce, even if the electricity did not come from nuclear power but from wind power, but only a small part could be consumed.
We are therefore facing the worst power shortage in the entire EU, but we must not continue with that. That is why we are talking to the wind power companies about how they can deliver more power, meaning that electricity does not only go to export on windy days but that we have a steady supply of electricity throughout the entire year. This is crucial for the investments.
Madam Speaker! It was spoken here that things were slowed down because of the presence of the Sverigedemokraterna. I would say that a good deal of investments were slowed down because we took over in a situation where inflation was 10 percent. After two years with Sverigedemokraterna, Kristdemokraterna, Moderaterna and Liberalerna – I usually call it the Kristdemokratiskt-led government to compensate for all the other epithets we receive – we have brought down inflation to 2 percent. It is still too expensive to be Swedish, but we have turned away from a situation where we took over at 10 percent. That situation had very serious consequences for investments.
Furthermore, we are cleaning up the mess that has existed regarding wind power. We are doing what a red-green government failed to do over eight years: We provide economic incentives for local areas to say yes to wind power. We are removing the open-door system that has applied to offshore wind power, where one could apply almost anywhere without having any idea whether the defense would ultimately say no. We also have a significant pace in the decisions regarding offshore wind power. It is once again something that the red-green government failed to do.
We have also cut the times by applying pressure. Svenska kraftnät has now been able to cut the time for some of these cable processes from 14 ½ years to 8 ½ years. So, a lot is happening, and it will continue to do so.
This is important because industrial policy today is, to the highest degree, also geopolitics. It is a question of our competitiveness, our opportunity to keep jobs in Sweden, and to be able to secure our independence in a very difficult time in our global environment from countries whose values we truly do not share.
Isak From (S)
Madam Speaker! Many who are watching this debate probably feel that they have had to pay for both inflation, for the cost crisis, and for this government's leadership.
When it comes to the production of electric trucks, it is not only the contract writing that has decreased. I do not have the latest figures, but in the first two quarters, the requests to sign contracts also decreased, according to both Scania and Volvo. Volvo is now also saying that in order to become a serious competitor, they need to build a battery factory, perhaps in Mariestad, and then the offshore wind was needed.
Just as Ebba Busch says, this energy is needed, otherwise we will not manage this. I also do not believe that Ebba Busch means seriously that our automotive industry should wait for a nuclear power that, at best, will be here sometime after 2035. It is the industrial jobs that are at stake now. It is not only the industrial jobs up in Skellefteå that are at stake if Sweden and Europe do not manage competitiveness.
Ebba Busch has not mentioned anything about preparedness in her response. We need to have our own production of both vehicles and fuel. It naturally concerns different fuels, but electricity is a part of it. If we are to build up a competitive and credible preparedness, a bit more action is needed.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I continue to focus on what we agree on. Since my previous contribution addressed the question of whether industrial policy is geopolitics, it is easy for me to agree with Isak From that these are difficult and tough times where our resilience and competitiveness are also an important part of our view on total defense.
I would like to agree again: Many Swedes probably feel that they have had to pay a very high price for a policy that was focused on political agreements that lacked a basis in reality and that did not solve Sweden's serious problems. People have had to pay 28 kronor per liter of diesel at the pump. It is difficult to state an exact average, but now the price is down to around 18 kronor per liter, which is 10 kronor less. This is partly due to the global situation but to a very large extent also because we changed political decisions.
It is the same thing when it comes to inflation, which has gone from 10 percent to 2 percent. We continue to make decisions on measures that not only sound good but that will have an effect, in a double sense, for the Swedish people. It will mean more money for charging infrastructure and regulatory simplifications for companies. It is also an energy policy that does not just build on us saying "Look here, much more electricity!" but where the electricity goes to export when it is windy and where industries and factories that need electricity 24/7 cannot get it when it is not windy.
We must move away from that, and we are now changing that policy. I am proud and happy about the priorities that have so far been made by four parties in the budget, partly with support in the chamber, for a green transition that is anchored in reality and which leads to jobs, growth, and competitiveness in a difficult time.
Thank you for the interpellation, Isak From!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.