The sea-based Kriegers Flak project was given the green light by the previous red-green government in 2022 and was scheduled to be operational in 2028.
However, in early September, Vattenfall pressed the pause button, citing that the current conditions do not make it profitable to build the wind farm. Part of the motivation was that the Swedish state does not cover the cost of connecting the wind farm to the grid.
Has confidence
However, Ebba Busch questions this in an interview with Dagens Nyheter.
I'm calling out Vattenfall on this. They don't have a grip on their stuff, she says to the newspaper.
When asked by TT on Tuesday if she means that it's a game from Vattenfall's side, the answer is no.
I mean that it's misleading to paint the connection fee as the decisive factor for wind power projects in Sweden, says Ebba Busch.
According to Ebba Busch, Vattenfall has not been able to answer the so-called capacity factor for Kriegers Flak, i.e., how much available capacity there is to connect new businesses and industries.
And then I'm calling them out on it, she says.
Ebba Busch still has confidence in Vattenfall's management, she says.
"Must correct"
Formally, it is Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson who is the responsible minister. She says to TT:
The government has full confidence in Vattenfall's board and management. As for the discussions that have taken place between Vattenfall and the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, I don't know anything about that.
The Social Democrats' party leader Magdalena Andersson believes that Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson must take a stand against the minister's statement:
We have a vice prime minister who instead of taking responsibility for the government's energy policy failure is blaming a state-owned company. It's uniquely weak. Therefore, my demand on Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is that he must intervene and correct this, she says.
Representatives of Vattenfall do not want to comment on Busch's statements.
According to Dagens Nyheter, Vattenfall has stated in an email that they "of course have a grip on their numbers" and that the connection fee "is one of several factors in an investment decision".
