(Bloomberg) -- Sweden rejected 13 offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea deemed to pose a risk to the nation’s ability to protect itself against attacks from Russia.
Offshore turbines could hamper the activity of submarines and delay the ability to react to any incoming missiles, Defense Minister Pal Jonson said at a news conference in Stockholm on Monday. The security situation in the Baltic Sea is “extremely sensitive,” he said.
Sweden’s concern about Russian aggression has heightened following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which prompted the Nordic nation to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alongside neighboring Finland. The Swedish Armed Forces have also vetoed onshore wind parks on security grounds.
“It’s a very unfortunate decision,” said Hillevi Priscar, who runs Swedish operations at OX2 AB, one of the developers that had several projects rejected. “We are convinced that it’s possible to take advantage of Sweden’s unique conditions for offshore wind while at the same time build a stronger defense,” she said by email.
The Baltic Sea is an ideal place for offshore wind, with good and even wind speeds and a shallow seabed. Other nations in close proximity to Russia, including Poland and Germany, are expanding offshore wind, with a constructive cooperation between the industry and armed forces, Priscar said.
Other firms with projects that were rejected include Germany’s energy giant RWE AG and Norway’s state-owned utility Statkraft AS.
“Statkraft remains committed to developing offshore wind in Sweden and we continue our work with development of the five Swedish projects in our portfolio that are outside the Baltic Sea,” said Jakob Norstrom, head of Statkraft Sverige.
Despite the good conditions for offshore wind, hardly any has been built. Vattenfall AB, Sweden’s biggest power producer, has halted the development of a large project and threatened to pause another off the west coast, saying that they don’t make financial sense if firms have to pay for connections to the grid themselves.
The rejected projects would have had a combined output of about 140 terawatt-hours, or almost the same as the nation’s current demand. While all of them wouldn’t have been built, it’s a huge blow to the nation’s future power supplies, as concerns mount of the prospects of its planned nuclear revival.
While Sweden needs to roughly double its power production in the next few decades to meet the demands of the electrification of the economy, safety is the most important, Jonson said, adding that “the interests of the Armed Forces must weigh extra heavily on any decisions taken.”
With wind farms hampering signals, Sweden would have much less time to respond to any attack, Jonson said.
“Early warning is crucial, both to be able to counteract ballistic missiles and cruise missiles,” Jonson said. “It’s also crucial for the population to be able to seek shelter in the event of an attack on Sweden.”
One project on the west coast, known as Poseidon, was approved by the government.
(Updates with comments from developers from fourth paragraph.)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.