Sweden Rejects 13 Offshore Wind Farms, Green Lights Vattenfall’s Poseidon Project

November 4, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The Swedish government has rejected 13 applications to build offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea due to defence concerns while approving one project on the west coast, being developed by a joint venture between Vattenfall and Zephyr.

On 4 November, the Swedish government announced that 13 submitted applications to build offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, south of the Sea of Åland, were rejected, with a potential capacity of almost 32 GW.

“Based on the Armed Forces’ documentation, the government makes the assessment that it would lead to unacceptable consequences for Sweden’s military defense to build the projects in question. 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, Sweden’s Minister of Defence.

The government rejected OX2’s 5.5 GW Aurora, the 3.1 GW Neptunus, the 1 GW Pleione, and the 1.4 GW Triton offshore wind projects. Another developer, Eolus, had two of its projects denied: the 1.4 GW Arkona and the 2.2 GW Skibladner.

Additionally, Sweden rejected applications from Denmark’s Ørsted for the 1.5 GW Skåne project, as well as RWE’s 2 GW Södra Victoria, Statkraft’s 2.5 GW Baltic Offshore Beta, and 2.1 GW Baltic Offshore Delta North projects.

Included in the rejected applications were proposals from Freja Offshore, a joint venture between Hexicon and Mainstream Renewable Power, part of the Aker Group. Notably, this affected the development of the Cirrus and Dyning floating offshore wind projects.

Dyning was planned to be located between the Swedish mainland and Gotland, approximately 45 kilometers southeast of Oxelösund, within the Swedish economic zone. The Cirrus area was situated 50 kilometres south of Karlskrona in the Swedish economic zone.

Freja Offshore is also developing the Mareld floating wind farm, which is planned off the west coast of Sweden. In June this year, the project received a recommendation from the County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland and is currently being processed by the Swedish government.

Another proposal that was rejected was from Deep Wind Offshore for the Erik Segersall offshore wind project.

According to the government, the only offshore wind farm approved, Poseidon on the west coast, is expected to generate approximately 5.5 TWh of electricity annually.

The project, being developed by Vattenfall in partnership with Zephyr, with Vattenfall as the majority owner, could begin construction in 2029 and reach completion around 2031.