New wind prospects in Sweden
Eva Balslev (2004-10-29)
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After the recent Swedish descicion to close the
Barsebäck nuclear power plant in 2005, the Swedish governing party
and two coalition parties has agreed to speed up the installation
of several big offshore wind farms.
All together the Swedish government is planning more than 30
offshore wind farms in Swedish waters.
“Danish manufacturers should be in a position where we can get a
good share of those orders,” says Karl Gustav Nielsen, chairman of
the Danish Wind Industry Association and director in Vestas Wind
Systems.
Karl Gustav Nielsen expects however that it will be 3-4 years
before the first large offshore parks are installed along the
Swedish coast. In return if only half of the 30 offshore wind farms
are installed, the investment will be several billion euro.
Until now the bureaucracy and local opposition has put a stop to
Swedish offshore wind farms. In 1997 the Swedish authorities began
the projecting of 48 wind turbines at Lillgrund in Oresund - not a
single wind turbine has been installed yet. But the political
system is trying to change the current praxis.
“The process is to slow. There is no need for the planning
process to last that long,” Claes Ånstrand, a government
official states in the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan.
This message is well received in the Danish wind industry.
”I see the new Swedish signal as an official sign that they are
working on finding alternatives to the traditional energy sources -
especially the nuclear power plant Barsebäck. Also it is a signal
to investors, developers and others that they can start preparing
for new offshore wind turbine farms.” Karl Gustav Nielsen
states.
Related links
See the website of
Copenhagen Offshore Wind 2005
Read about the new offshore
conference
Read about the Danish
offshore farm Horns Rev
