Svensk vattenkraft och införandet av moderna miljövillkor

Sammanfattning: Water is the most important natural resource for mankind’s survival and it’s a resource that must be protected for current and coming generations. Legal instruments have been used to assure preservation of these resources and one of these instruments is the water framework directive 2000/60/EG which is deployed to secure water resources inside the European Union. Sweden is working actively to reach the directives environmental goals and to obtain environ- mental quality standards, but in the same time be able to deliver renewable energy through hydroelectric power sources. To be able to reach said goals, a new law has been enacted in January 1, 2019 which regulates modern environmental conditions to produce hydroelectric power. This entails a big adaptation for producers of hydroelectric power because the new mod- ern environmental conditions demand that environmental measures must be considered to pro- duce electricity. Swedish hydroelectricity is characterized with conflict of interest between the interests of energy and the environment. To adhere to the interests, the Swedish parliament has announced the Energy agreement which should result that renewable energy further can be produced and in the same time follow environmental measures to adhere to the interest of pro- tecting the environment. Through effective collaboration between authorities and concerned actors within the hydroelectric industry, the modern environmental conditions should be ap- plied to follow EU regulations and to make sure that all involved parties’ interests are consid- ered. This will result that Sweden can secure the preservation of water as a resource and in the same time be able to produce hydroelectricity and adhere to modern environmental require- ments.