World’s largest planned offshore wind farm wins key environmental approval
Monster Aurora wind farm in Baltic Sea would meet around 17% of Sweden’s total electricity needs
The world’s largest planned offshore wind farm — the 5.5GW Aurora site being developed by Nordic developer OX2 and Ikea parent Ingka Group — has secured a key environmental permit from Swedish authorities.
OX2 announced today that the county administrative board of the island of Gotland, near where the farm would be built, has granted a Natura 2000 permit for Aurora.
The environmental permit means the board agrees with other authorities that the wind farm can be built without harming species worthy of protection, said OX2.
The Natura 2000 permit is a key prerequisite to obtaining one of the much-coveted final approvals by the Nordic country’s central government.
The next step, said OX2, is for the board to propose to the government that the wind farm can be built. If approved, OX2 said construction could start in 2028 and production before 2030.
Aurora would be built about 22 kilometres south of Gotland and more than 30 kilometres east of the island of Öland in the Baltic Sea.
With its 5.5GW of planned capacity, OX2 says Aurora could produce up to 24TWh of electricity annually. That could power five million homes, or about 17% of Sweden’s total electricity needs.
Aurora would be by far the largest in the Baltic and potentially the biggest single offshore wind development on the planet.
By comparison, if all of Orsted’s Hornsea projects in the UK North Sea end up being built they would have a combined capacity of 7.5GW, but the largest individual projects, Hornsea 3 and 4, only have a capacity of 2.4GW and 2.6GW respectively.
“The Baltic Sea is also an area of importance for the Swedish Armed Forces and with the help of sensors on the turbines the wind farm could assist with surveillance and control in the area,” said OX2.
Emelie Zakrisson, OX2’s head of offshore wind development in Sweden, said: “Aurora is a wind farm that can really make a real difference and act as a motor in the net zero transition in the southern parts of Sweden.”
“The large-scale production from Aurora would facilitate for more local electricity production to be developed as well as hydrogen production to help decarbonise industry and heavy transports.”
Sweden’s offshore wind market is heating up as the government creates more favourable rules for offshore wind to speed up its energy transition, making permitting a priority.