'Nuclear scale' offshore wind for Sweden as Vattenfall and Ikea owner get green light

Sweden today (Tuesday) fired the starting pistol for more than a gigawatt of offshore wind off its coasts.

The nation’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced approval for state-backed utility Vattenfall to build its 1.2GW Kattegat Syd and Nordic developer OX2 to construct the first 400MW phase of its Galatea-Galene development, which is part-owned by Ikea parent group Ingka.

The projects will deliver about 6.5TWh of power to southwest Sweden, the nation’s area of biggest demand.

The government said the two wind farms will deliver around the same amount of power as a nuclear power plant, enough to supply around one million homes. Nuclear is, controversially, set to be another key plank of Sweden’s energy policy under Kristersson’s government.

Energy minister and deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said: “Sweden's households and businesses have had a tough time, not least during the past winter. We are now gearing up to face the coming winter.

“But in order to get out of the energy crisis in the long term, there are no quick ways forward [and] we need to rebuild a robust electricity system again.”

The projects have 'Natura 2000' environmental permits, but still need other consents covering areas such as underwater cable connections.

Sweden has rapidly emerged as a new European hotspot for offshore wind ambition, despite not switching on any new turbines at sea since 2013.

“Sweden is one of the countries in Europe with the best conditions for offshore wind power. We have more projects waiting for decision by the government and look forward to being part of a build out that will benefit consumers as well as business and industry,” said Peter van der Poel, CEO of Ingka Investment, which has become a major investor in project development off the nation’s coasts.