Voters change mind to back huge Swedish offshore wind projects by Skyborn and Iberdrola
Referendum in central Sweden comes after earlier vote had rejected giant plans in Bay of Bothnia
In a “unique” reversal from a previous vote, residents of the central Swedish municipality of Söderhamn have approved plans for huge offshore wind farms in the Bay of Bothnia by Skyborn Renewables and Iberdrola.
The referendum was held following an initiative by wind power opponents, who this time in vain wanted to annul earlier permits granted by the municipal council in 2010 and 2022 to build the wind farms.
In an earlier referendum in 2022, 55% of voters had rejected offshore wind projects in waters near the municipality.
It is unclear what changed voters’ minds, possibly Sweden’s efforts to become independent of Russian energy imports may have played a role. In this year’s vote that coincided with European elections earlier this month, 51% voted in favour of offshore wind.
Niclas Broman, head of Skyborn Sweden, added: “We (Skyborn Renewables) are pleased that the results in the local referendum are in favour of offshore wind.
"This shows that the people of Söderhamn recognise that wind power is an enabler for local and regional development. The outcome of the referendum gives us even more energy to work towards realising our plans for the Storgrundet wind farm.”
Skyborn plans to build its 1GW Storgrundet project off Söderhamn, while another huge project by local developer Svea Vind called Gretas Klackar 2 was also subject to the vote. Iberdrola in 2020 signed a deal giving it the right to take a majority stake in Svea Vind's projects at sea, meaning the global renewables giant was also affected by the outcome.
Skyborn last year already received an environmental permit for Storgrundet, which it plans to build with up to 51 wind turbines that would generate some 3-3.5TWh per year from the end of this decade on. Svea Vind said its Gretas Klackar 2 project would generate about 2.2TWh per year.
Next to the municipal permit, offshore wind farms in Sweden also need a regional permit, a grid connection approval and a final permit from the country’s central government, which is the most difficult hurdle.
Sweden’s current centre-right government – which needs the support of the wind-sceptic far-right Sweden Democrats in parliament – has been very lukewarm about granting approvals to further offshore wind projects.
While a ‘No’ to the offshore wind projects off Söderhamn would not have been binding, it may have influenced the central government negatively when considering permit requests.
Chances for Skyborn’s Stogrundet project to gain a final approval are better than those for Svea Vind/Iberdrola’s Gretas Klackar 2, as the latter also faces objections by Sweden’s military, which would like to see its size reduced from 62 to 30 wind turbines, which shouldn’t be taller than 300 metres.
Sweden’s military in the past has shot down offshore wind projects with its objections.