Skip to content
SVERIGEFAKTA.com
← Kostnader & Ekonomi

Granskning · Energi

Vad hände med elpriset?

Sverige är indelat i fyra elprisområden. Norr (SE1, SE2) har överskott av el. Söder (SE3, SE4) har återkommande underskott vid hög efterfrågan. Skillnaden — nord/syd-gapet — har vuxit kraftigt sedan 2020.

169 öre

Årssnitt-spotpris i SE4 (södra Sverige) under toppåret 2022 — cirka 6,5× nivån 2020 (26 öre). SE1 (norr) samma år: 40 öre/kWh. 2023–2025 föll priserna kraftigt igen. Skillnaden mellan norr och söder är inte teknisk slump — den är konsekvens av flera samverkande faktorer.

Vi förklarar inte 'varför' med en mening

Elpriset bestäms av efterfrågan, tillgång, väder, gaspris i Europa, överföringskapacitet, kraftslag och politiska beslut. Att peka ut en enskild faktor som 'orsak' är tolkning, inte data. Här redovisas siffrorna och de mest etablerade förklaringsbidragen var för sig.

Elpris per prisområde — årsmedel spot, öre/kWh

Nord/syd-gapet växte kraftigt 2021–2022 under den europeiska energikrisen. SE4 toppade på 169 öre 2022 — cirka 6,5× nivån 2020. 2023–2025 föll priserna igen men gapet kvarstår.

Elpris per prisområde — årsmedel spot

2017–2025 · öre/kWh · Sverige (SE1, SE3, SE4)

Elpris per prisområde — årsmedel spot: SE1 (norr) moves from 29 (2017) to 26 (2025) — down 3 öre/kWh. Full values are available in the data table below (2017–2025, Sverige (SE1, SE3, SE4)).

Elpris per prisområde — årsmedel spot · öre/kWh · 2017–2025 · Sverige (SE1, SE3, SE4)
ÅrSE1 (norr)SE3 (mellan)SE4 (söder)
2 017293132
2 018434750
2 019384143
2 020152226
2 021446782
2 02240136165
2 023395977
2 024224359
2 025265572

Method: Årsmedelvärde av Nord Pool Day-ahead spotpris per elprisområde, exklusive moms, energiskatt och nätavgift.

Source: Nord Pool Day-ahead (accessed 2026-07-27) · Energimyndigheten / SCB — energiprisstatistik (accessed 2026-07-27)

Källa: Nord Pool Day-ahead spot, aggregerat via Energimyndigheten och SCB (årsmedel per prisområde).

Tidslinje — kärnkraft och effektbalans

  • • 1999, 2005 — Barsebäck 1 och 2 (SE4-området) avvecklades efter politiska beslut.
  • • 2015–2020 — Oskarshamn 1 och 2 samt Ringhals 1 och 2 togs ur drift av en kombination av ekonomiska skäl (effektskatt, lågt elpris) och åldersskäl.
  • • 2022 → Svenska kraftnät rapporterar återkommande risk för effektbrist i södra Sverige under kalla vinterdagar; nya reaktorer planeras men har lång ledtid.

Flera orsaker — inte en

Externa

Europeisk gasmarknad (Nord Stream-avstängning 2022), Rysslands fullskaliga invasion av Ukraina, väderår (torra/blöta), kall vinter.

Inhemska

Avvecklad kärnkraft i söder, begränsad överföringskapacitet norr→söder, ökad efterfrågan (elektrifiering av industri och transport).

What the data does NOT say

  • — Spotpris är inte hela elnotan. Nätavgifter, skatter och elhandlarens påslag tillkommer — varierar regionalt.
  • — Pris säger inget om leveranssäkerhet, utsläpp eller framtida effektbehov.
  • — Det går inte att utifrån prisdata avgöra hur mycket var och en av faktorerna (gas, väder, reaktorer) bidrog. Energimyndigheten redovisar bedömningar med osäkerhet.
  • — Norge, Finland och Tyskland såg också stora prishöjningar 2022 — Sverige är inte ensamt om utvecklingen.

See also

Vad immigrationen kostar →Kommunal verklighet →

The question this page answers

How is the Swedish electricity price set — and why does it differ so sharply between north and south?

At a glance

Key figures — the most important numbers on this page

SE4 annual spot 2022

169 öre/kWh

Peak year during the European energy crisis — about 6.5× the 2020 level.

SE4 annual spot 2025

72 öre/kWh

Sharp fall from 2022 but still ~3× SE1 (26 öre).

SE1 · SE2 · SE3 · SE4

4 bidding zones

Since 1 November 2011 — split by Svenska kraftnät following an EU Commission decision.

SE4/SE1 gap 2025

≈ 2.5×

Southern Sweden pays ~2.5× northern Sweden — mainly due to transmission constraints.

Spot share of end-user bill

≈ 30 %

The rest is grid fee, energy tax (43.9 öre/kWh 2025), VAT and retailer margin.

Nuclear share in the mix 2024

≈ 45 %

Hydro ~40 %, wind ~20 %, CHP/other ~5 % (Energy Agency).

Nuclear reactors in operation

6 reactors

Forsmark 1–3 (SE3), Ringhals 3–4 (SE3), Oskarshamn 3 (SE3). Barsebäck (SE4) shut 1999/2005.

Energy tax 2025

43.9 öre/kWh

Excise excl. VAT. Reduced rate for energy-intensive industry and northern Sweden.

What does the data show?

Objective observations — not interpretations

  • Since 2011 Sweden has been divided into four bidding zones. SE1 (north) and SE2 (northern middle) have a power surplus — mostly hydro and wind. SE3 (southern middle, including Stockholm) and SE4 (southern) have a deficit at high demand and import from the north and from the continent.
  • The spot price is the price set at Nord Pool's Day-ahead auction — an hourly price fixed the evening before delivery. The end-user price is spot + retailer margin + energy tax + VAT + grid fee (paid to the grid owner, not the retailer). A household in SE4 on a variable contract pays roughly 3× more per kWh than the raw spot suggests.
  • The north/south gap is mainly driven by limited transmission capacity from north to south (the so-called cuts 1, 2 and 4). Svenska kraftnät is building new lines (including the Nordsyd 400 kV corridor) but projects take 10–15 years. In the short run the gap is structural.
  • The 2022 price peak was driven by several factors at once: Russian gas cuts to Europe, drought in southern Europe (low hydro), low levels in Norwegian reservoirs, and several Swedish reactors being offline. Sweden is priced together with the rest of northern Europe via Nord Pool.
  • Norway, Finland, Denmark and Germany also saw sharp increases in 2022. Sweden is not alone — the Nordic/European price area is connected via interconnectors.

Method note
All prices on the page are annual averages of the Day-ahead spot price, in öre per kWh excluding VAT, energy tax, electricity certificates and grid fee. Source is Nord Pool via Svenska kraftnät (Mimer) and the Energy Markets Inspectorate. 2026 is preliminary — average January to June. Series before 2011 are not comparable because the zone split was introduced on 1 November 2011 — before that Sweden had a single system price. End-user prices (including tax and grid fee) are published separately by SCB (Electricity prices) and Ei (Elpriskollen). Comparisons across years should account for inflation — real prices are lower than nominal, especially before 2020. The energy mix builds on the Energy Agency's annual statistics Energy in Sweden.

Definitions

How the numbers are counted — and what they do not cover

Bidding zone
A geographic area with a single spot price. Sweden has four: SE1 (Luleå), SE2 (Sundsvall), SE3 (Stockholm), SE4 (Malmö). The split is set where there are structural bottlenecks in the grid.
Spot price
The hourly price on Nord Pool's Day-ahead auction. Set the evening before delivery when all buyers and sellers submit bids. The intersection of supply and demand becomes the clearing price for the hour.
System price
The Nordic reference price Nord Pool would have set with no transmission constraints between zones. Still used as a reference for financial contracts.
Power exchange
Nord Pool AS is the dominant Nordic exchange. EPEX Spot is the European one. Trade takes place both Day-ahead (day before) and Intraday (same day).
Transmission capacity
How much power (MW) can be moved between two bidding zones. Set by physical line capacity and operational security (the N-1 criterion). Svenska kraftnät calculates and publishes daily capacities.
Power deficit
The situation where electricity demand exceeds available production + import in a given hour. Svenska kraftnät regularly reports a risk of deficit in southern Sweden on cold winter days. Disturbance reserves are activated as a last resort.
Energy mix
The split of electricity production by source. Sweden 2024: hydro ~40 %, nuclear ~45 %, wind ~20 %, CHP and other ~5 %. Fossil-free share >98 %.
Baseload
Power that produces evenly over time and is dispatchable: nuclear, reservoir hydro, CHP. Different from weather-dependent sources (solar, wind).
Regulating power
Power that can be started quickly to balance the grid in real time. In Sweden mainly hydro. Traded separately from the spot market on Svenska kraftnät's balancing market.
Grid fee
Fee to the grid owner for transporting electricity from producer to end user. Consists of subscription fee, capacity fee and transmission fee. Regulated by the Energy Markets Inspectorate under a revenue cap.
Energy tax
Excise duty on electricity paid by the end user. 2025: 43.9 öre/kWh (excl. VAT). Reduced rate for energy-intensive industry and for households and services in designated northern municipalities.
Electricity certificate
Market-based support scheme for renewable electricity (2003–2035). The producer receives certificates per MWh; suppliers must buy certificates equal to a quota of their sales. Cost is passed on to end users. Closed to new plants after 2021.
End-user electricity price
The total price the customer pays per kWh: spot + retailer margin + VAT + energy tax + grid fee. A kWh that is 30 öre at spot ends up around 200 öre for the end user with VAT and grid fee.

Primary sources

Agencies and research institutions behind this page

5

agencies/institutions

4

reports & studies

3

primary datasets

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to what is most often discussed

Mainly because of transmission constraints. Production is concentrated in the north (hydro, wind) while demand is concentrated in the south. When lines run full, southern Sweden (SE3/SE4) must be priced separately and often with imports from Denmark, Germany and Poland — where gas and coal set the marginal price. The shutdown of Barsebäck (SE4) in 1999 and 2005 and Ringhals 1 and 2 (SE3) in 2019–2020 has widened the deficit in the south.

Related topics

Logical next steps if you want to understand the background

Sources for this page

The data comes from official primary sources.

Corrections for this page

  • Arkivlänkar ersatta med direktlänkar

    web.archive.org-wrappade källlänkar på /vart-gar-pengarna (MigrationFokusRad), /energipriser och /integration-over-tid har bytts till raka URL:er till respektive myndighet, rapport eller databas.

  • Elpriser — årsmedel 2026 (preliminärt) tillagt

    Serien i /energipriser har utökats med 2026: SE1 55,4, SE2 55,8, SE3 81,0, SE4 96,0 öre/kWh. Värdena är månadsmedel jan–jun från Nord Pool Day-ahead och märkta som preliminära.

All corrections on Sverigefakta
Report an error on this pageSupport Sverigefakta
Share this page:XFacebookReddit
Cite this page

Content and our own calculations are CC BY 4.0. Please also cite the primary source.

APA 7
Sverigefakta.com. (2026). Sverigefakta. Retrieved 2026-08-14, from https://sverigefakta.com/en/energy
Harvard
Sverigefakta.com (2026) Sverigefakta. Available at: https://sverigefakta.com/en/energy (Accessed: 2026-08-14).
Simple web citation
Sverigefakta.com, "Sverigefakta", https://sverigefakta.com/en/energy (accessed 2026-08-14).
BibTeX
@misc{sverigefakta_2026_en_energy,
  author       = {Sverigefakta.com},
  title        = {Sverigefakta},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://sverigefakta.com/en/energy}},
  note         = {Dataset v2026.2, accessed 2026-08-14}
}
Permanent link
https://sverigefakta.com/en/energy
More citation formats and rules