Sweden blocks 13 offshore wind farms over defense concerns November 4, 2024

An offshore wind farm with several wind turbines at sea.

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Sweden blocks 13 offshore wind farms over defense concerns

Sweden's government said on Monday it had blocked the construction of 13 offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea after the country's military said they could harm defense capabilities.

Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari told a press conference that building permits for the planned wind farms had been denied because “they would have an unacceptable impact on defense interests.”

All 13 projects were planned in areas off the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, NATO's newest member, directly opposite the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The decision was made following a study by the Swedish Armed Forces, published by public broadcaster SVT last week, which showed that the projects could significantly interfere with the sensors used by the military.

The towers and rotating blades of wind turbines emit radar echoes and generate other forms of interference.

“In this serious security situation in which Sweden finds itself, defense interests need to be given greater weight,” Defense Minister Pal Jonson told reporters.

Jonson said that offshore wind farms in the area could disrupt military radars and delay the detection of approaching cruise missiles, reducing the warning time from two minutes to 60 seconds.

“One of Ukraine's experiences is that Russia uses a lot of long-range systems, both cruise missiles and ballistic missiles,” said Jonson.

The Swedish Wind Energy Industry Association said the decision was “surprising.”

“It is problematic that the government categorically closes an entire area to potential electricity production without a proper overall assessment,” the association said in a statement.

Jonson said that areas of the southwest and northeast coasts of Sweden were more suitable for offshore wind projects.

The minister said the relative proximity to the “highly militarized” Kaliningrad was “central to the assessment.”

Tensions in the region have increased following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

At the end of October, NATO opened a new naval base in the German city of Rostock to coordinate the forces of the military alliance's members in the area.

Russia summoned the German ambassador to Moscow the day after the opening to protest against the new naval command center.

Moscow called the center a “flagrant violation” of the treaty on the reunification of Germany in 1990, which said that no foreign armed forces would be deployed in the area, a claim that Berlin denied.

Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment after the invasion of Ukraine and joined the US-led military alliance.

The Baltic Sea has thus become surrounded by members of the alliance, with some analysts dubbing it a NATO lake.

Jonson also said that Sweden has a “special responsibility” as a member of the alliance when it comes to the Baltic Sea, “where we have unique abilities that are also important for the entire alliance.”

At the same time, energy needs, especially from renewable sources, are high on the agenda.

A government memo seen by AFP noted that other countries have found alternative solutions for offshore wind energy, such as the use of special “gap-filling radars” placed near the farms.

However, it noted that Sweden's military geographical location “means that we consider different trade-offs.”

The same memo noted the urgent need to increase energy production, as Sweden's electricity demand could more than double by 2045.

The government emphasized on Monday that the expansion of wind energy was still a priority and announced that it was giving the green light for an offshore wind energy park off the west coast of Sweden.

The Poseidon wind farm will use floating windmills and could provide up to 5.5 TWh of energy per year.

Another ten planned offshore wind farms are currently being considered by the government.

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