Swedish government rejects plans for offshore wind farm, citing nature protection

Sweden’s Ministry of Climate and Enterprise said today that the government had rejected Vattenfall’s application to build an offshore wind farm off the country’s west coast. The ministry cited the risk of an unacceptably negative impact on nature as the main reason. This is the second offshore wind farm project to be halted for Vattenfall in a short period.

According to Reuters, Vattenfall planned to build an offshore wind farm with around 50 turbines, each 290 metres tall, at Stora Middelgrund. The farm was expected to generate between 2.5 and 3 TWh of electricity annually. The Swedish government has now rejected the project over the risk of a potentially negative impact.

“The facility at Stora Middelgrund would pose a risk of unacceptable damage to sensitive natural assets. The risk of a negative impact on international interests in shipping also carried significant weight in the government’s assessment,” the Swedish minister said, according to Reuters.