No new investment decisions were made during the third quarter. And it's the same as last quarter, when there were no turbine orders, says Erik Almqvist at Svensk Vindenergi.
However, it's not dead on the wind power market. Previous decisions mean that the expansion pace continues, albeit at a decreasing rate. By 2025, 1,000 MW of new wind power production is expected to be completed, 500 MW the following year, and 400 MW in 2027, which is a reduction from previous estimates.
Tougher to make decisions
In total, there are advanced building plans, announced and permitted, for 6,400 MW (equivalent to six nuclear reactors) in potential production when the wind blows.
But it has become a bit tougher to make investment decisions, says Erik Almqvist.
Among other things, the industry has started to hesitate in the face of prospects of low electricity prices for many years to come. This is because the industry that is to consume the energy is increasingly postponing projects to the future. Then, the additional supply may become too large before consumption takes off.
Electricity prices look like they will be quite low, says Almqvist.
Political uncertainty
This scares off wind farm owners, it's hard to make money.
Other reasons for the hesitation are that the costs of building wind turbines have increased significantly. And then there's the political uncertainty.
What we are asking for is that they clearly signal to the market that we want to expand wind power and we will try to facilitate that expansion as much as possible, says Almqvist, who welcomes the government's recent proposal to let municipalities receive a share of the property tax from wind farms.
