Wind Energy – Sweden
Statkraft has submitted a planning application for the 2.1 GW Baltic Offshore Delta North bottom-fixed offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea.
The Delta North wind farm is located in Sweden’s economic zone, approximately 100 kilometres east of Stockholm and 55 kilometres east of Sandhamn island.
The greater Stockholm region will have the potential to receive an annual production of approximately 8 TWh of electricity from Delta North, which corresponds to 40 per cent of the current electricity consumption in Stockholm County. Delta North would cater to the increasing electricity demand of the transport sector and the need to transition to a low-carbon industry to meet current climate targets. The wind farm would also address the imbalance of the Stockholm region, which only produces about a tenth of the electricity it consumes.
The proposed wind farm includes up to 105 bottom-fixed wind turbines in an area far out at sea to ensure low to no visibility from land. Delta North will not be visible from the mainland and the inner archipelago (where the vast majority of Stockholm County’s population lives) and will have little visibility from certain places in the middle archipelago. There may be some visibility from the outermost islands of the outer archipelago.
The proposed wind farm is located in an area that has been identified by Swedish authorities as suitable for offshore wind, as presented in the proposed revision of the Marine Spatial Plans.
With water depths ranging from 40 to 80 metres, the area is the only suitable location for bottom-fixed offshore wind at scale in Stockholm. Depending on the final landfall and grid connection location, the wind farm may be connected to hydrogen or e-fuel technologies which provide grid stability by addressing any issues of intermittent power production from offshore wind.
“Three aspects make the proposed Delta North wind farm unique. Firstly, it would lead to a proportionally vast increase in electricity production in the Stockholm region to meet the high energy demand from consumers and industry alike. Secondly, the project has been developed to be of as little interference as possible to Stockholm’s famed archipelago, and we remain confident that the project has low to no visibility from land. Thirdly, the wind farm benefits from the more cost-effective and mature technology of bottom-fixed turbine foundations. Neither of these aspects are unique by themselves, but the combination of all three in one project is,” said Jakob Norström, SVP Country Manager of Sweden.
“Progressing our Swedish offshore wind portfolio in a market where Statkraft has a strong market presence is an important part of realising Statkraft’s offshore wind ambition to develop 6-8 GW of offshore wind by 2040. Building on our Beta offshore wind farm application last year, the Delta application is one of more to come as we seek to position Sweden as a key offshore wind market in Northern Europe,” said David Flood, SVP Offshore Wind.
Statkraft has applied to build and operate the Delta North offshore wind farm to the Ministry of Climate and Economic Affairs as per the law governing Sweden’s economic zone. After submission, the government will evaluate Statkraft’s application and seek input from consultation with several agencies before making a decision.
