Skyborn bags key permits for giant offshore wind farm near Stockholm

Skyborn Renewables has received key regional and environmental permits for its Fyrskeppet wind farm off Sweden’s west coast, leaving the 2.8GW project now largely just awaiting a final approval by the central government in Stockholm.

The county administrative board of Uppsala decided the huge project 50km off the coast in the Bay of Bothnia can be built in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone.

Fully developed, the project can produce 8–11TWh of green power per year, contributing to the electrification of the Stockholm metropolitan area, which is located relatively close, Skyborn has earlier said.

But Fyrskeppet and other Skyborn offshore wind projects are not affected by the decision, as they are located further north in the Bay of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland, thus not in a possible direct firing line from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which triggered the radar security concerns.

The Uppsala country board said the potential power production from Fyrskeppet is equivalent to the electricity out of just over one nuclear power plant.

The application includes up to 187 wind turbines with a maximum height of 350 metres.

“We have had a careful examination and assessed that the conditions are in place for the Fyrskeppet wind farm. More fossil-free electricity is needed for the green transition to become a reality,” county governor Stefan Attefall said.

Skyborn, on its website, said the wind farm could be commissioned around 2030. The developer currently has a project pipeline of more than 10W in Sweden in various stages of development.

The country targets to reach carbon neutrality by 2045 and seeks to rapidly electrify its heavy industries, transport and heating sectors.

Uppsala county also granted Fyrskeppet an environmental permit, which was necessary as the offshore wind project is located close to the ‘Finngrundet Östra och Norra banken’ Natura 2000 protection areas.