The County Administrative Board of Halland has announced that the Galatea-Galene offshore wind farm can be granted permission to be built under the Swedish Economic Zone Act. The wind farm can start construction as early as 2026 without state subsidies. The Swedish Armed Forces have also given the go-ahead for part of the wind farm. The decision now lies with the government.
In its decision, the County Administrative Board writes that the government can give the wind farm the go-ahead to be built. The decision is based on an application under the Swedish Economic Zone Act. The Swedish Armed Forces have also stated that they have no objections to the northern part of the wind farm, and there is ongoing dialogue about the southern part.
The planned wind farm has a total capacity of up to 1.7 GW. The annual electricity production can provide up to 6-7 TWh, which almost corresponds to the increase in demand expected by industry in western Sweden by 2030. In addition to the production of electricity, OX2 is cooperating with local stakeholders to improve the ecology and nature around the project.
– This is an important step to enable more renewable electricity production, thus contributing to lower electricity prices, climate change adaptation and ensuring continued industrial competitiveness in the region. We look forward to working further with the local business community to create more jobs and, among other things, enable large-scale seaweed farming, says Emelie Zakrisson, project development manager for offshore wind power in Sweden at OX2.
– It is fantastic news that the County Administrative Board has now approved the project. We look forward to realising the wind farm together with OX2. With a fast-track permitting process, we can be in production before 2030, says Frederik de Jong, Head of Renewable Energy at Ingka Investments.
The Galatea-Galene wind farm is divided into two sub-areas. Galatea is located about 25 kilometres outside Falkenberg and Galene about 25 kilometres outside Varberg.
Galatea-Galene is one of three projects that OX2 is developing together with Ingka Investments. The other two are Triton off the coast of Skåne and Aurora, between Öland and Gotland. Decisions on the three projects are taken by the government and have the potential to produce a total of up to 38 TWh, equivalent to about a quarter of Sweden’s current total consumption of electricity.
