Swedish energy company Vattenfall has had measures in place for several weeks to ensure generation and other activities critical to society are continuing despite the impact of the coronavirus.
Vattenfall said that this is done using “continuity plans” that have been drawn up for its business areas and that are activated in connection with exceptional situations, such as the current spread of COVID-19.
Resources are focused on keeping operations going in the power plants and facilities in Vattenfall’s markets, with the aim to safeguard staffing and maintain security of supply, the company said.
Preparatory work has been carried out within Vattenfall’s operations, including the heat business with plants in Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany, as well as on- and offshore wind.
In Sweden, the nuclear power plants in Ringhals and Forsmark are operating under a “state of preparedness”.
This means that dedicated persons are managing and executing necessary decisions to guarantee secure operation and to implement the planned outage season, Vattenfall said.
Precautionary measures were implemented within the electricity grid operation as far back as in week four in order to secure important parts of the business, the company added.
Vattenfall president and chief executive Magnus Hall said: “For several weeks we have had both international and country-specific coordination teams in place which are monitoring and managing the situation with respect to Vattenfall’s employees and operations.
“Our continuity plans are in place, which means that we have developed procedures and preparedness to keep our operations going and the work is proceeding according to the plans.”
Vattenfall said that its coordination team is following developments carefully and adapting the business to directives and advice from the respective countries’ governments and authorities with respect to travel, work from home and avoidance of social contacts.
Hall said: “We are well prepared and instituting measures to minimise the effects of different scenarios.
“We are following the authorities’ recommendations in addition to our own continuity plans, and continuously monitoring the situation.”
Vattenfall has commercial operations in Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Finland, France and Norway.