The answer to this question depends on the future demand of thermal power generated by fuels. The size of this demand depends partly on the development of the use of electricity and partly on the future use of the existing nuclear power stations in Sweden. The use of nuclear energy has been and still is a major political issue in Sweden, where the debate reached one of its highest degrees of intensity at the Swedish referendum about nuclear energy in 1980. On the other hand, the green house effect, partly caused by carbon dioxide emissions, contradicts the use of fuels for power generation in Sweden.
If thermal power generated by fuels will be needed in the Swedish power balance in the future, CHP-plants will be built in order to minimize the demand for condensing power. The national asset of district heating systems unexploited by CHP will then be exploited. The use of combined cycles with individual electricity yields of 1,0 and steam cycles with individual electricity yields of 0,5 - 0,6 will raise the magnitude of the national electricity yield to about 0,4 or 0,5. With the present national electricity yield of -0,1 and an assumed annual heat generation of 45 TWh, further 22 -27 TWh of power generated can annually be supplied from the Swedish district heating systems. On the other hand, if there will be no space for CHP-plants in the Swedish power balance, maybe power from Swedish municipal CHP-plants can be sold on a future common market for power in Europe in order to reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and car bon dioxide in Europe.