Ikea group plans one of the world's biggest offshore wind farms to 'oxygenate' Baltic

The array is planned to feature 207 wind turbines of around 15MW and is estimated to churn out 13-15TWh of green power per year – which corresponds to the total electricity consumption of Sweden’s southern Blekinge and Skåne regions.

The developer and retail duo has also applied for the go-ahead of adjacent offshore hydrogen production of up to 370,000 tonnes annually, as well as a pilot project to oxygenate the Baltic Sea. Oxygen is a byproduct of hydrogen production and can be used for oxygenation, thereby contributing to restoring marine life in areas with a deficiency.

“The energy hub Neptunus is one of the first of the next generation of wind farms. By producing renewable energy and hydrogen, Sweden will be able to secure energy for sectors that can’t be electrified,” said Emelie Zakrisson, head of offshore wind development in Sweden at OX2.

“The oxygen from the hydrogen production can also be used to oxygenate the bottom water in the Baltic Sea and improve biodiversity.”

Neptunus is still in an early development phase and only 1.9GW of its capacity is included in OX2’s project development portfolio, which by the end of the third quarter of 2023 had reached 34GW.

Ingka Investment and OX2 are jointly developing six offshore wind farms in Sweden – Galene off the west coast, Triton and Neptunus off the south of Sweden, Aurora between the islands of Öland and Gotland, and Pleione and Ran off the east coast of Gotland.

Sweden’s central government last year had already granted OX2 a final permit to build the 400MW Galene wind farm.

Unlike most other countries, the Swedish central government does not hold seabed lease auctions or tenders for support in offshore wind. It instead allocates acreage at sea according to a kind of first-come-first-serve principle, once developers have passed environmental zoning and received a recommendation at a regional level, as well as the Natura 2000 permit.