The Swedish government gives the green light for Vattenfall to lay cables on the seabed for the large Krieger Flak wind farm. The project with the large wind farm out in the sea three miles south of Trelleborg was already started in 2002.

Twenty years later, in 2022, the Swedish government gave a building permit for the park. But then there was still a lack of permission from the government for the company to lay cables along the seabed to connect the park to the main grid.

In May 2022 BalticWind.EU informed that the Swedish government granted construction permit. Now The Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari announces that the government is giving the green light for the underwater cables. The decision will be taken during a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

– Now we are happy to be able to make this decision. It is an important step that Kriegers Flak can be started in the southern Baltic Sea, says Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari.

The park includes 35-50 wind turbines that will be 280 meters high instead of 170 meters, according to Vattenfall. The state-owned company estimates that the park, if everything goes as planned, can be put into operation in 2028.

No offshore wind power project has been commissioned in Sweden since 2013.

One project, three countries

Source: Energinet

The area where Kriegers Flak is shared between the economic zones of Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Since 2015, the German wind turbine has been there, while the Danish part was commissioned in the summer of 2021.

The Swedish part of the wind farm is estimated to be able to produce around 2.6 TWh per year – about a quarter of Forsmark 3. According to the company, this corresponds to electricity for around 500,000 homes.

– It is a fantastic addition given the situation we are in, says Pourmokhtari.

The government’s permission for the cables comes with several conditions, such as that Vattenfall must take into account the marine environment and any archaeological remains on the seabed.

– It is still a complicated process, but now everything that is needed in terms of permits is in place for Vattenfall to be able to start the work, says the Minister of Climate and Environment.

According to the minister, the reason why the project has been so tenacious is all the permits that are needed. The government is now reviewing how the permit process for different types of energy production can go faster.

Source: Dagens Industri