Vattenfall Clears Final Permit Needed to Build Swedish Kriegers Flak Offshore Wind Farm

Authorities

February 17, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

The Swedish government has given the approval for Vattenfall to lay subsea cables for its 640 MW offshore wind farm Kriegers Flak, the second by that name as the developer already built a 604 MW offshore wind farm in the Danish part of Kriegers Flak.

Illustration; Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm in Danish Baltic Sea; Photo: Vattenfall

According to Sweden’s Minister for Climate and Environment, Romina Pourmokhtari, this permit is important as it allows for the work on building Kriegers Flak to begin.

Under the authorisation now given for the cabling part of the project, the work required to install the cables must be completed within a ten-year period.

The permit also includes a number of conditions that regulate how the construction works are to be carried out in order to protect the environment and ensure safety.

Vattenfall has already obtained several permits that are required for building and operating the offshore wind farm, including the authorisation in accordance with the Swedish Economic Zone Act, the Land and Environment Court’s permit, and the Natura 2000 permit.

The Swedish Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm is located some 30 kilometres south of Trelleborg. The wind farm will comprise 40–50 wind turbines, all planned to be commissioned in 2028, if everything goes according to plan.

According to earlier information Vattenfall shared about the project, the company expects to hold project procurement in 2023–2024, reach an investment decision in 2025, and start installation the same year. Construction work could then reach completion in 2027 and the wind farm would be fully commissioned the following year.

The Kriegers Flak area in the Baltic Sea consists of three parts dedicated to wind power development in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark.

As already mentioned, on the Danish side, Vattenfall has already built Denmark’s Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm, which has been operational since 2021. On the German side of Kriegers Flak, the 288 MW EnBW Baltic 2 wind farm has been in operation since 2015.

The Kriegers Flak project between Denmark and Germany includes a Combined Grid Solution (CGS) that interconnects Danish Kriegers Flak and German Baltic 2 offshore wind farms.