Offshore Expansion: Vattenfall Receives Natura 2000 Permit for Swedish Section of Kriegers Flak

Stockholm, Sweden - About 30 kilometres south of the Swedish city of Trelleborg, the Swedish energy company Vattenfall is planning to build the Swedish section of the Kriegers Flak wind farm in the Baltic Sea. The plan is to erect a total of 40-50 wind turbines with a maximum capacity of about 640 megawatts (MW).

With an expected annual electricity production of 2.3 - 2.8 TWh, the offshore project plays an important role in the energy transition in the Skåne region and in Sweden. The turbines are scheduled to become operational sometime around 2027-2028.

In recent years, parts of the Kriegers Flak wind farm area have been classified as a Natura 2000 site. As part of the project's Natura 2000 environmental evaluation, Vattenfall has carried out extensive surveys in the area, covering the natural types of reefs, birds, fish and porpoises. On this basis, appropriate protection measures will be taken and methods will be derived and applied to enable coexistence between wind energy use and environmental concerns according to Natura 2000.

The County Administrative Board of Skåne has now granted Vattenfall a Natura 2000 permit for the construction of the wind turbines. In order to minimise the impact, it is foreseen, among other things, that the turbines will be built at a sufficient distance from sensitive habitat types.

The decision shows that it is possible to find ways for environmental concerns and wind power to coexist in the Natura 2000 area Nordvästra Skånes Utsjövatten, says Johnny Ståhlberg, project manager at Vattenfall. "With this, we are taking a long-awaited step towards more renewable power generation in the region of Skåne," Ståhlberg continues.

Source: IWR Online, 26 Apr 2021