Hydropower is an important source of energy in Sweden and accounts for about 46 % of the total energy production. Sweden has about 1 200 hydropower plants and with the intention of raising the pressure head of the water and to store water, dams are built by the power plants. The storage reservoirs make it possible to adjust the energy production by demand and season. Dams in connection to the reservoirs are subjected to additional loading during periods of high floods or when an icecap in the winter is formed on the reservoirs. In order to maintain the dam safety, the power companies in Sweden are working with guidelines for dam safety from RIDAS.

There are many old dams in Sweden and, since few dams are constructed today, the main task in risk assessment on the existing dams is often to reduce the risk of failure. RIDAS (Swedish Guidelines on Dam Safety) is used when designing new dams and assess the existing ones. The guidelines include stability requirements for different failure modes, e.g. overturning and sliding, which imply that the load effect from e.g. uplift and ice load need to be less than the resisting loads or moments.