Swedish Offshore Wind Project Dead in the Water

The Government of Sweden has decided not to issue a permit to Blekinge Offshore AB for the construction of an offshore wind farm in Hanöbukten.

The government ruled that the wind farm is proposed to be built in a strategically important practice area for the country’s Armed Forces.

Blekinge Offshore AB had applied for a permit to construct and operate a wind farm consisting of either 350 or 700 turbines installed over an area of around 200 square kilometres.

The company expected that the 350-turbine wind farm, a scaled down version of the project, would be accepted by the government as a sort of a compromise solution which would help Sweden reach its 100 percent renewable energy by 2040 goal without impeding the country’s efforts to boost its defense.

”Parliament has made it clear that Sweden’s ambitions are to improve its defense. Hanöbukten is one of the strategically most important defense areas Sweden has. The government has considered this issue carefully and have concluded that in this case it is not possible to combine the defense business with wind turbines,” said Sweden’s Environment Minister Carolina Forest.

Once constructed, the wind farm was expected to generate up to eight terawatt hours of electricity annually, covering around 5 percent of the country’s overall power needs.

The area is located about five kilometers southeast of Hanö in Sölvesborg Municipality, and about ten kilometers south of Tärnö in Karlshamn.

Offshore WIND Staff