After the Swedish government rejected 13 offshore wind projects due to defence concerns, the European wind energy industry organisation, WindEurope, issued a press release saying the decision was “highly problematic”.
“Yet again Sweden is bottom of the class on offshore wind. The Swedish Government has been unhelpful on offshore wind for many years. But a plain ban on offshore wind development in large parts of the Baltic Sea is unheard of. This makes no sense, not least when all the other countries around the Baltic Sea want to build more offshore wind and are progressing well on it”, said Giles Dickson, WindEurope’s CEO.
As reported on 4 November, the Swedish government rejected 13 applications for offshore wind farms south of the Sea of Åland, with a potential installed capacity of almost 32 GW. The government approved one offshore wind project, Poseidon, on the country’s west coast.
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On 5 November, WindEurope said the decision to “close an entire area in the Baltic Sea for offshore wind generation” was made without a proper assessment and that, as a result, private investments of up to EUR 47 billion could be lost.
The organisation said that the move undermined investors’ trust and put Sweden’s industrial competitiveness at risk.
On 4 November, Pål Jonson, Sweden’s Minister of Defence said that based on the documentation provided by the Armed Forces, the government assessed that building the projects in question “would lead to unacceptable consequences for Sweden’s military defense”.
“In the serious security policy situation Sweden now finds itself in, with war in our immediate area, the defense interest must weigh heavily when judgments like this are made”, said Pål Jonson.
WindEurope said that the Swedish military had been “blocking offshore wind projects for years” and that the government did not do enough to moderate this conflict.
The organisation noted that in the seven other countries around the Baltic Sea, the governments had established joint formats between the offshore wind industry and the military, and highlighted the approach in Poland, where the military is using offshore wind farm infrastructure to enhance military surveillance capabilities.
“European Governments mustn’t fall for the Russian intimidation and interference with energy policies. Offshore wind means more energy security and less dependence on Russian energy imports. Russia wants the EU’s successful transition to cheap and local renewables to fail. But let’s be clear: offshore wind can coexist happily with military activity”, said Giles Dickson, WindEurope’s CEO.
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WindEurope also ascribes the cancellation of the 13 offshore wind projects to the Swedish “open-door” system. The organisation pointed out that, in the EU, only Italy and Sweden were using this system for offshore wind farms.
According to WindEurope, the open-door systems are more prone to conflicts with other sea users and also lead to different project developers often applying for overlapping offshore sites.
“Sweden already has an extremely cumbersome approach to offshore wind development and the Government has been unwilling to provide financial support to offshore wind for years. But after yesterday’s cancellations completely undermine investment security. Investors will now think twice before developing offshore wind in Sweden, particularly when neighbouring countries offer better and more reliable approaches to offshore wind development”, said Giles Dickson.
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