On Monday, Vattenfall announced that the wind power project Kriegers Flak off Sweden's south coast is being paused.
The reason is, according to the energy giant, that it is not possible to make the project economically viable since the Tidö parties withdrew the state subsidies for sea-based power cables.
Reintroducing the support does not seem to be an option, according to Energy and Industry Minister Ebba Busch (KD).
It is not reasonable to help with the connection fee for one type of power, sea-based wind power, while land-based wind power, for example, does not have that opportunity, she says at a press conference.
She further states that the Tidö parties have always been clear that energy policy should be technology-neutral and that politicians "must stop pitting different types of power against each other", and instead focus on the effect.
Don't you think many Swedes perceive it as if you are prioritizing nuclear power?
I think very many Swedes have noticed how expensive it is with a red-green energy policy that says we should only have sun and wind, which come and go depending on the weather. Now we say that we should prioritize the types of power that deliver more evenly, because Sweden is a country that must function evenly, she says.
Ebba Busch also refers to the fact that other sea-based wind power projects are continuing despite the abolished connection support.
Other projects that the government granted permits for in the spring of 2023, Galene and Kattegatt Syd, both off the coast of Halland, appear to be proceeding according to plan, she says and continues:
So other projects appear to have economic viability with the conditions that our four cooperation parties have provided.
