Sweden stands out with very lengthy processes for building new offshore wind power. Often, the defense is pointed out as a brake.
But in other NATO countries, new turbines are being built at a rapid pace.
The Danish energy giant Ørsted has spent seven years and a few hundred million on a sea-based wind power project south of Ystad. All permits are clear, only the government's final decision is missing. The company has been waiting for it since December 2022.
On most other markets in Europe, it takes 8-10 years from the start of a project until it's ready to deliver power to the grid, says Ørsted's Sweden chief Sebastian Hald Buhl.
So far, the Swedish permit process for the Skåne Offshore Wind Farm has taken almost as long as it takes to get a project fully completed in other countries.
Overtaken by the Danes
The difference becomes particularly clear at Kriegers Flak, a few miles south of Trelleborg. There is a Swedish, a Danish, and a German part.
Despite Denmark and Germany starting their projects later, there are now Danish and German turbines producing electricity. But no Swedish ones.
Vattenfall got the green light from the government in the spring of 2022 after a lengthy process. But there is still no decision on the start of construction.
For Ørsted, the slow process is frustrating. Both the business community and politicians agree that electricity production must increase significantly in the future. The Skåne Offshore Wind Farm is estimated to be able to produce electricity equivalent to half of Skåne's current electricity consumption.
Furthermore, the conditions for offshore wind power in the Baltic Sea are good – it blows well, is not too deep, and is a suitable distance from land.
The reason it takes so long is largely due to Sweden not having a similarly structured system as other countries, but Sebastian Hald Buhl also points to another obstacle – the Swedish defense.
I don't think it's that the Swedish Defense doesn't want to, but it's more that there isn't a structure to facilitate coexistence, as in other countries, he says.
Expanding strongly
It's a fact that wind farms can affect the defense's activities, both underwater and above the water surface. But in other NATO countries, wind power is expanding strongly anyway.
In Poland, for example, close to Russia, the company has been working with the Polish defense for several years. A common solution is to install radar or sonar systems in the wind farms, as compensation for the disturbances.
Hald Buhl notes that even if the Swedish defense says no, other countries will build wind farms in the Baltic Sea anyway.
An important point is that the Swedish defense can have more control if they also build in Sweden.
Planned 22 kilometers south of Ystad in Sweden's economic zone.
The maximum effect is estimated to be 1500 MW with an annual production of around 7 TWh – equivalent to half of Skåne's electricity consumption.
The application concerns up to 125 wind turbines with a maximum height of 385 meters.
The investment cost is estimated to be 25-50 billion kronor.
Several other companies have applied to build wind farms in the same or adjacent areas.
Ørsted is majority-owned by the Danish state and is one of the world's largest developers of sea-based wind power.
Source: Ørsted
